headquarters_location london travelwatch
In ___MASK55___ , National Rail is the trading name licensed for use by the Rail Delivery Group , an unincorporated association whose membership consists of the passenger train operating companies ( TOCs ) of ___MASK55___ that run the passenger services previously provided by the British Railways Board , from 1965 using the ___MASK26___ name British Rail . National Rail generally does not include services that do not have a BR history ; this distinction is important because National Rail services share a ticketing structure and inter - availability that do not necessarily extend to other services . The name and the accompanying double arrow symbol are the intellectual property of the Secretary of State for Transport . British Railways ( BR ), which from 1965 traded as British Rail , was the operator of most of the rail transport in ___MASK55___ between 1948 and 1997 . It was formed from the nationalisation of the " Big Four " British railway companies and lasted until the gradual privatisation of British Rail , in stages between 1994 and 1997 . Originally a trading ___MASK26___ of the Railway Executive of the British Transport Commission , it became an independent statutory corporation in 1962 : the British Railways Board . ___MASK55___ , also known as Britain , is a large island in the north Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe . With an area of , ___MASK55___ is the largest European island and the ninth - largest in the world . In 2011 the island had a population of about 61 million people , making it the world ' s third - most populous island after Java in ___MASK63___ and Honshu in Japan . The island of Ireland is situated to the west of it , and together these islands , along with over 1 , 000 smaller surrounding islands , comprise the British Isles archipelago . The ___MASK23___ Assembly is an elected body , part of the Greater ___MASK23___ Authority , that scrutinises the activities of the Mayor of ___MASK23___ and has the power , with a two - thirds majority , to amend the Mayor ' s annual budget and to reject the Mayor ' s draft statutory strategies . The assembly was established in 2000 and meets at ___MASK6___ on the South Bank of the River Thames , close to Tower Bridge . The assembly is also able to investigate other issues of importance to Londoners ( transport , environmental matters , etc .), publish its findings and recommendations , and make proposals to the Mayor . The Rail Delivery Group ( RDG ), formerly Association of Train Operating Companies ( ATOC ), is a body that represents the 23 train operating companies that provide passenger services on the privatised British railway system . It owns the National Rail ___MASK26___ . RDG is an unincorporated association owned by its members . It was set up by the train operators formed during privatisation of the railways under the Railways Act 1993 . Its office is in London . The British Railways Board ( BRB ) was a nationalised ___MASK77___ in the ___MASK18___ that operated from 1963 to 2001 . Until 1997 it was responsible for most railway services in Great Britain , trading under the ___MASK26___ name British Railways and , from 1965 , British Rail . It did not operate railways in Northern Ireland , where railways were the responsibility of the Government of Northern Ireland . The River Thames is a river that flows through southern ___MASK58___ . At , it is the longest river entirely in ___MASK58___ and the second longest in the United Kingdom , after the River Severn . It also flows through ___MASK38___ ( where it is called Isis ), Reading , Henley - on - Thames and Windsor . The lower reaches of the river are called the Tideway , derived from its long tidal reach up to Teddington Lock . It rises at Thames Head in Gloucestershire , and flows into the North Sea via the Thames Estuary . The Thames drains the whole of Greater London . The Mayor of ___MASK23___ is an elected politician who , along with the ___MASK23___ Assembly of 25 members , is accountable for the strategic government of Greater ___MASK23___ . The current mayor is Sadiq Khan , who took up office on 9 May 2016 . The position had been held by Ken Livingstone from the creation of the role on 4 May 2000 until he was defeated in 2008 by Boris Johnson , who served two terms before being succeeded by Khan . Transport for ___MASK23___ ( TfL ) is a local government body responsible for the transport system in Greater ___MASK23___ , ___MASK58___ . Its head office is in Windsor House in the City of ___MASK16___ . The City of ___MASK16___ is an Inner London borough which also holds city status . It occupies much of the central area of Greater London including most of the West End . It is to the west of and adjoining the ancient ___MASK29___ , directly to the east of the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea , and its southern boundary is the River Thames . It was created with the 1965 establishment of Greater London . Upon creation , ___MASK16___ was awarded city status , which had been previously held by the smaller Metropolitan Borough of ___MASK16___ . The ___MASK90___ is an entertainment and commercial district of ___MASK83___ London , ___MASK58___ , next to the River Thames opposite the City of ___MASK16___ . It forms a narrow , unequal strip of ___MASK69___ land within the London Borough of Lambeth and the London Borough of ___MASK66___ where it joins Bankside . As with most central London districts its edges evolve and are informally defined however its central area is bounded by ___MASK16___ Bridge and Blackfriars Bridge . Its name was adopted during the Festival of Britain over the local less attractive name of ' Lambeth Marsh '; it includes the County Hall , complex with the Sea Life London Aquarium , the London Dungeon , Jubilee Gardens and the London Eye , the Southbank Centre , Royal Festival Hall and National Theatre , among its long list of attractions . Both the County Hall and the Shell Centre contain major residential parts . ___MASK23___ TravelWatch is a statutory British consumer organisation that campaigns for improvements to transport in ___MASK23___ . It is the transport watchdog for services provided by Transport for ___MASK23___ , which includes facilities for pedestrians , cyclists , and motorists . It is also the watchdog for National Rail companies in the ___MASK23___ area and significant parts of the South East . It also deals with individual complaints by passengers against the relevant transport operators . However , it takes up a complaint only after the operator has already dealt with it , if the complainant remains dissatisfied . It is therefore in consumer representation terms an `` appeals body '' . It is funded by the ___MASK23___ Assembly and was established in its current form in July 2000 . Tower Bridge is a combined bascule and suspension bridge in ___MASK23___ built in 1886  1894 . The bridge crosses the River Thames close to the Tower of ___MASK23___ and has become an iconic symbol of ___MASK23___ . Tower Bridge is one of five ___MASK23___ bridges now owned and maintained by the Bridge House Estates , a charitable trust overseen by the ___MASK29___ Corporation . It is the only one of the Trust ' s bridges not to connect the ___MASK29___ directly to the Southwark bank , as its northern landfall is in Tower Hamlets . The Greater ___MASK23___ Authority ( GLA ) is a top - tier administrative body for Greater ___MASK23___ , ___MASK58___ . It consists of a directly elected executive Mayor of ___MASK23___ , currently Sadiq Khan , and an elected 25 - member ___MASK23___ Assembly with scrutiny powers . The authority was established in 2000 , following a local referendum , and derives most of its powers from the Greater ___MASK23___ Authority Act 1999 and the Greater ___MASK23___ Authority Act 2007 .