Transport 2000 was launched on 6 February 1973 with a press conference at the Hotel Russell, London. It initially had offices at 30-34 Buckingham Gate, Westminster. The formation of the organisation was a reaction to the newspaper disclosure in October 1972 that one of the options in a report for the Department of the Environment was the possible closure of a large part of the rail network. The organisation was formed by the National Union of Railwaymen and included the Railway Industry Association and the Liberal Party Environmental Panel, as well as environmentalists, amenity groups, trades unions and other transport groups. The creation of the group was described in March 1973 as "Yet another transport pressure group has appeared on the scene; known as Transport 2000, it has the backing of railway and environmental sections of the community. The Chairman is Mr. Eric Robinson, a member of the Liberal Environmental Panel, and he described the new group as the most comprehensive and ambitious transport lobby in Britain".