It was charged with conducting research into improving various aspects of Britain's railways, particularly in the areas of reliability and efficiency, including achieving cost reductions and increasing service levels.

Its creation was endorsed by the newly created British Rail Board (BRB) in 1963 and incorporated personnel and existing resources from all over the country, including the LMS Scientific Research Laboratory.

In addition to its domestic activities, the Research Division would provide technology and personnel to other countries for varying purposes and periods under the trade name "Transmark".

It became recognised as a centre of excellence in its field; the theoretical rigour of its approach to railway engineering superseded the ad hoc methods that had prevailed previously.

Many of these early proposals were related to traction and power equipment, such as motor control, signalling, digital computers, and 25 kV AC railway electrification.

[4][5] One early matter for this new division was the choice for a long term location, Rugby being passed over in favour of Derby, where the purpose-built Railway Technical Centre was built during the 1960s at a cost of £4 million.

[6] Nearby, the Research Division developed its first test track on the old Great Northern Railway line between Egginton Junction and Derby Friargate (later used only as far as Mickleover) and was used by the Train Control Group.

[12] By the mid-1960s, the Research Division had multiple traction-related projects underway, however, they were negatively impacted by the sudden death of senior engineer James Brown.

Other advances made by researchers in the field of overhead electrification, such as hydraulic dampers and flexible contact wire supports, greatly aided the Modernisation of the West Coast Main Line.

[14] By the end of the 1960s, the division has made progress in the area of rail adhesion; influenced by French experiments with spark discharges, development of what became the plasma torch proceeded based on promising test results gathered in 1967.

[17] The success of these efforts were such that, having been initially authorised for a five-year period, the BRB approved a further 11-year extension in 1973, thus continuing the Research Division's work in these areas through to March 1985.

[22][23] An even more radical freight vehicle, the Autowagon, was also worked on during the early 1970s; the concept of individual self-powered container-carrying wagons automatically loading, traversing the rail network, and unloading as required.

[20] The use of tilting permitted the alignment of the lateral forces with the floor, in turning higher top speeds to be attained before passenger comfort was adversely impacted.

[citation needed] There were extended studies into metal fatigue, and pioneering work in ultrasound crack detection at a time when it was being investigated elsewhere for medical diagnostics.

Major signalling breakthroughs made by the Research Division included Solid State Interlocking and the Integrated Electronic Control Centre.

[citation needed] The Research Division had an uneasy relationship with other parts of BR, and like most of the products of Harold Wilson's "white heat of technology" speech, were killed off in the early 1980s.

The APT-E was provided with a single driver position central in the cab, at a time when the unions were resisting the loss of the "second man" (the fireman in steam days).