EWS (English, Welsh & Scottish Railway)

English, Welsh and Scottish Railway (EWS) was a British rail freight operator created on 24 February 1996 by the merger of three of the freight companies established at the privatisation of British Rail, Loadhaul, Mainline Freight and TransRail Freight, and was bought by Wisconsin Central Transportation Corporation of the United States. EWS dominated British rail freight through the late 1990s and 2000s, eventually controlling about 90 per cent of the market.

EWS placed a major fleet order for Class 66 diesel-electric locomotives from General Motors EMD, 250 locomotives delivered between 1998 and 2000, that almost wholly displaced the surviving BR-era classes. The smaller Class 67 fleet was ordered by EWS for parcels and passenger work. The company's distinctive maroon-and-gold livery was a familiar sight on British freight services through the 2000s.

EWS was sold to Deutsche Bahn in 2007 and rebranded as DB Schenker Rail (UK) in 2009; it is now part of DB Cargo UK.