All Railways Lead to London - AKA Was Beeching Right? 

The sad thing was that the track bed was not protected for these closed routes. So, this stops reinstatement for many lost lines where there is a desire 😔

What I think is an interesting and relevant story. In 1971, I was going to Oxford, aged 18, for my first university term. I took a very large suitcase to Coulsdon South station for separate transmission to the college. I was told that the station did not handle freight. I said it was not freight, it was “Luggage in Advance”, which all manned stations must handle. After a long argument, I made the chap look up his book of regulations, and I was right. Having paid and handed over the suitcase, I then booked my ticket thence to Oxford. He offered me a ticket via London Victoria, the Underground, London Paddington, and Reading. I refused, saying I did not want to bugger about on the Underground with hand luggage. He told me I had to, there was no alternative. I insisted there was, I wanted a ticket via Redhill and Reading (thus avoiding London and transferring between termini). No more changes required, just moving platforms at the same station. Far easier. After another long argument, I made him get out his universal booking guide, and, indeed, I could get a ticket using this route, and it was, moreover, cheaper than the ticket he had said I was obliged to purchase. 50p cheaper: then, that was two pints of lager at a pub! A second story, much on the same lines (pun intended). In 1977 I arrived at Gatwick Airport, and asked for a railway ticket to Huddersfield. The same story: Gatwick-Victoria-Kings Cross-Wakefield-Huddersfield. No, I said, Gatwick-Stockport-Stalybridge-Huddersfield. No farting about with luggage on the bloody Underground (which is certainly, even now, not fit for that purpose). No: it isn't possible. I pointed out that it certainly was, in fact, there was such a train in twenty minutes, and he had better sell me a bloody ticket pronto. Look up the universal guide. He did, I got the ticket, and it was cheaper than the one he tried to sell me, this time by pounds. These stories show, that after Beeching not only did everything seem to be centred on London, with all other connections in the network cut, even the ones that still existed were deliberately ignored, in order that, in due course, they could be shut down too, as “uneconomic”. It is unsurprising they became uneconomic if the bloody staff were trained to lie to the passengers about their existence!

Sorry to go political but Beeching's boss was E. Marples who owned a civil engineering company that built Hammersmith flyover among many other road projects . The loss of railways was his gain. To comply with Parliament rules he eventually sold his shares to his wife on the proviso he could buy them back at original price. The Tories have kept their noses in the public money trough for ever.

One of Beeching's biggest mistakes was the closure of the Edinburgh - Carlisle line. But things are looking good. Already the line has been re-opened down to Tweedbank. The beautiful preserved station at Melrose, just beyond, will be worth waiting for.

2:19 In Paul I hope you mention Mc Alpine who had bought 1000's of lorries from the War Department! Beeching had his name on the Document but there were forces acting behind him. I'll carry on now.

Before HS2 though there was the proposal for the Central Railway. Rather than taking express passenger trains off existing lines to free up space for stoppers and freight, it was intended to remove the freight to a different line. It was looked into at some length, but didn't get Government support because (ironically given HS2's cost over runs) they were worried that the commercial backers (banks and SNCF from what I can remember) might fold part way through the £8bn construction and the Government would be left to stump up the cash to finish it. The Central Railway's argument was that linking the Channel Tunnel and feeds from the southern ports to a north-south freight line would also remove lots of HGVs from roads, so not only free up space on the railway but reduce motorway congestion and maintenance costs. Sadly not to be though.

We've had the Okehampton to Exeter reopened in the last 18 months, so nice not having to worry about parking 👍

Beeching could have made massive cost savings by de staffing stations. Our closest station (now closed but heritage line still runs through) was fantastic, with waiting rooms, buffet etc and several staff but it served just a few hundred residents living locally. In my opinion a platform with a shelter would have works for a fraction of the cost.

One of the most impressive operations was the milk collecting operation run on the Somerset & Dorset. All up and down the line, farmers would fill the tanks which were picked up and shunted into Templecombe lower goods with more congregation at Wincanton and Radstock. The tankers would swiftly be marshalled and taken up to Templecombe's upper large yard awaiting express engines which whisked them to Vauxhall where they were emptied by a series of spigots on the westermost platforms direct into the dairy below. This massive organised operation ran 24/7 night and day with engines being turned round at Nine Elms works or Stewarts Lane works whilst readied engines would pick up the empties to be taken back to Templecombe upper yard and back up and down the S&D after washing out. When the S&D was still there all along it was thriving, Radstock had a huge margarine factory at St Ivel, Shepton Mallet the Babycham factory plus other industries, Wincanton grew from a village into a thriving town, go look at them today... all decayed with little industry, high unemployment and little prospect with Wincanton the most run down. They did try to reopen Radstock to Frome but oh no, the property maggots soon buried that huge idea especially as the railway was just mothballed from the quarry junction, putting Radstock back on the main line would have reignited its growth and may well have been an impetus to look again at running from Bath to Bournemouth but sadly not.

It's devastating what happened to your railway network. In germany, a lot of lines were also closed (of course) but not to such an extent and it was limited almost entirely on the small, unimportant branch lines.

Ian Hislop did a documentary about the Beeching review which you would find very informative and interesting. It was originally on the BBC and can be found floating around on some Freeview channels. Basically the figures were a bit dodgy. The line to Richmond survived because Beeching and other important people used it daily apparently.

To a certain extent, London-centric thinking still pervades railway planning now: HS2 was conceived as London to Birmingham initially, with later extensions to Manchester and Leeds (the latter having now been pruned to an "East Midlands Hub", and I wouldn't be surprised if the former gets pruned to Crewe or earlier), while HS3 was initially upgraded to a longer East-West route, renamed "Northern Powerhouse Rail", then also deemed too expensive and demoted to a few short sections of new track but largely travelling along existing lines; while when Kenilworth Station was planned for rebuilding, it was intended the line wound be double tracked (again) and electrified (the overbridges having been raised in the 1980s in anticipation), but both have now been mothballed, so what would have been the down platform was built as a stub to support the existing footpath bridge. There's often suspicion that when railway funding is distributed, London gets the bulk (at least partially because it is so dense and wealthy that even ridiculously expensive new lines can generate a decent ROI), while the rest of the country has to fight over the remaining scraps. Even light rail now struggles to attract funding: whereas funding was available in previous decades for Manchester, Edinburgh, Croydon and others to get entire tram networks, after the initial West Midlands Metro line was built (mainly along a disused railway trackbed, only branching off at the Wolverhampton end), subsequent development has been limited to three short extensions through the city centre (the central section of the first chunk having to be dug up and replaced after only 5 years due to inadequacies in the original) - and while one new line and a branch are under construction, the branch isn't expected to open for another 6-7 years, while the tail end of the new line (connecting to Merry Hill Shopping Centre) was nearly mothballed until extra funding was made available.

The closing of railway lines started in Germany around the same time I suppose. The line that went through the village I live in was closed for passenger transport in 1992 and for goods it went on until 2016. But then they had to close it down due to tracks being not suitable for using any more. This line was once the most used railway line in the German Reich before WW1. Interesting to see what influence a single politician can have on a matter he has no idea about. I totally did not know that such things exists...

The greatest act of shortsightedness in railway history? Especially when you consider that routes weren't safeguarded and now reopening lines is difficult and expensive, you just have to look at the new planned sections of EWR that have to take into account the fact that houses have since been built on the route.

A few lines and stations which were closed after the Beeching Report have reopened, my local line Rugeley to Walsall was closed in 1965 as part of the Beeching cuts but was kept for freight thanks to Rugeley Power Station for coal traffic and for diversions/Empty coaching stock but did reopen in stages, The Borders Railway in Scotland, which was the old Waverley Route, closed in the late 60s and part of the line has reopened even know there a few tweaks from the original route that they had to do but it is great to see these lines reopen as passenger lines like the upcoming Northumberland line and Leven, Great video.

Greatly told story. Also very calm (and calmingly) talking about the bad decisions over time, not falling into complainining, whining or anting. Very appealing and pleasant to watch. However, re Beeching: You did point out that Mr Beeching was the executor of the PM at the time - and his remarks regarding the railways, what should be a public service, as something that needed to make a profit are abominable. But let's not forget the Transport Secretary at the time, Mr Marples, who was - I think - the real crook. As much as you can hate on Mr Beeching, his axe, as it were, was merely the tool of an ideology greater than himself, coming from his principal(s)/employer(s). Nevertheless, a great video!

I find interesting that rail enthusiasts in the UK have this singular boogeyman in the form of Beeching. In the States it was mish-mash of boardrooms, regulators, politicians, and plain old market forces that brought about the removal of over a third of our railway network. We just don’t have the advantage of having a single face for the dartboard.

Politicians thought in terms of profit for railways instead of a community service, The railways also suffered by being legislated as a common carrier meaning there wasn't any freight they could refuse at standard price. The road companies didn't have this imposition and the minister was not going to change that when he had a interest in road transport.

Excellent production, great script, lovely camera work and editing. I think the calm way you spoke worked nicely with the peacefulness of the route. Thank you.

Its a great sad loss when the railways were broken up. But in these times of large cksts of running your own car and so many parking and access restrictions today we could do with all the railways back.

I know all tube stations lead to Mornington Crescent!

Interesting to hear Beeching's comment that the railways will never pay for themselves. And yet the expanded and upgraded automobile road network that replaced the railways has never "paid for itself"... The subsidization of critical transportation that provides a public good and supports a thriving economy has always been a fact of life. One wonders what lobbying pressures were behind Beechings recommendations...

Adrian Vaughan in his book Signalman’s Morning writes of speaking to an old porter who gave him a riddle to solve. He said we “Swindle it, chisel it, og it, marl it, save it, graft it, coll it, ludg it, wey it and anditover. What were we doing?” He was of course referring to parcels traffic between Swindon and Andover on the M&SWJ Railway. Or the old Milk and Soda Water as they called it.

I'm watching from Ottawa Canada. This is fascinating in a geeky kind of way. All hail to men like you who keep history alive. ❤

Nice one yet again Paul!

Thanks to Beeching the devizes branch line was closed. The town suffered from the closure before the road links were grown. As a young boy I travelled every day to school in trowbridge by the steam train.

It's what I have been saying for too long. We badly need a holistic approach to public transport. I was with Jim Blake, a transport historian by anyone's reckoning. We walked the Parkland Walk from Finsbury Park, up through Stroud Green, Crouch End and Highgate and along the Alexandra Palace branch as far as the Mossy Well pub at Muswell Hill. He's a real fascinating guy to chat with, and his depth of knowledge on London's own transport systems is colossal. The Parkland Walk follows the alignment of the old steam operated line which LT took ownership of in around 1935. LT electrified the line, modified or rebuilt some of the old stations and it was almost ready for opening to the Public when WWII broke out. After the war LT was in a parlous state, the line languished little used (and still by steam or early diesels) until 1954 when it was closed. It's final used was for stock transfer between Highgate depot and Finsbury Park. Both the tunnels at Highgate are now bat sanctuaries and are, thus, closed to the Public. Several buildings were built upon the route. The Northern Heights branch, as it was known, would have given a direct Underground link to this part of North London, many of who's residents travel by bus into the city each day. If they want to catch the Underground or into town they must travel to Highgate (Northern Line) or Archway or bus to Finsbury Park and transfer, or out to Edgware, Mill Hill or Barnet for a surface rail station.

Another remarkable aspect is just how many lines were saved from closure because they were needed to transport freight, and especially coal. The Coventry to Leamington line is one example - used to transport coal from Coventry Colliery to Didcot Power Station. It closed to passengers in 1965 and reopened relatively soon afterwards, in 1977. Now running hourly passenger trains from Southampton to Manchester Piccadilly. The Vale of Glamorgan line, between Barry/Cardiff and Bridgend, isn't even the only line between those two places, but is a valuable asset if you happen to live in Rhoose or Llantwit. Closed to passengers in 1964, only used for traffic to the power station and cement works at Aberthaw for over 40 years, reopened in 2005.

What Beeching left us with was a network that shafted pretty much anywhere outside London.

Just imagine, in a greener society we re-open the routes that are essentially still there and create links to all these random new housing projects?

What is never mentioned is a comment I once heard pruning the branches will kill the trunk. Some lines may not be profitable but they should have been kept open for the wider picture of serving the community. How many use the car for the full journey rather than get to the next nearest station?

A very informative and realistic explanation of the past mistakes made by the early developers of the railways. Thank you for the video, Paul. Very straightforward with the views i think are correct. Hello to Rebecca and see you on they next! Enjoy the week ahead. ❤❤😊😊

03:19 - the moment everybody loves as you dive into the woods to find an abandoned station platform! Seriously good production this, and nicely explains things for a lot of people.Great video to refer back to.

I wish the High Wycombe to Bourne End branch hadn't been closed or at least had been made into a tramway. From High Wycombe we now have to travel into London Marylebone and then round to Paddington to get on the GWR to go west. Real pain when we could have just changed at Maidenhead or Reading to go to the West Country.

Excellent video - gives food for thought. Thanks Paul

I'm from where it all started - Darlington - and I still live there. Beeching's Axe wasn't as severe here, because there were fewer stations & lines, but it has had just as severe an effect as elsewhere, and the original line to Stockton has had a road built on it.

Bonus comment. Beeching closed the Somerset and Dorset railway. Affectionally known by the locals as the Slow and Dirty.

Beaching might have been right closing the lines. The crime was selling off the land, so they could not easily be re-laid. Hence, we are now spending 4 billion pounds reopening East West Rail, most of the cost rerouting the eastern section. HS2 is now costing tens of billions digging a new route from London to Birmingham, often digging through the track bed of the former Great Central Railway.

I used to live near Reading, and visit my parents in North Wales. I was normally taking my bicycle with me ,but to take a train direct from Reading to Crewe, the entire journey would take 5 hours to go to North Wales ,and 6 hours to go back. To do the journey through London was a lot quicker, as London to Llandudno was 3 hours. The problem with this route was the extra £100 that it would cost. The times that I tried to go to Cambridge, the only journey that I could buy a ticket for, was through London. I have been told that there were trains going that way, but I think the person who said that, saw it before Beeching.

The crime wasn't closing the railways, the crime was selling the land off that stopped them ever reopening if needed.

Lines and stations were closing before beeching, he just saw further ahead closed them before hand , “reshaping the railway “ was good to watch

A very interesting line of thought. Beeching was the hatchet man - the mood at the time was that railways should be profitable. However we now know that railways bestow a benefit that can’t be recouped by fares alone - a line that looses money can be of use. In the light of this, lines such as that to Okehampton or to Galashiels and Tweedbank have reopened and more are planned. Umpteen stations have reopened. This suggests that the policy of trying to make the railways pay was flawed and it did a great deal of damage.

Another excellent production, nicely explained things that were going on around me at that time. Me in November 63 I discovered Dr Who and in December 64 discovered Girls, so a little distracted. :o)

A great video Paul. Your analysis of Beeching was good. This kind of thing, and previous vids you've done on HS2, Stonehenge, railway bridges being filled in are deserving of a wider audience. That is TV. Keep up the good work😊

South and West Wales was absolutely destroyed by the closing of all the railways, and the communities still feel that loss today.

Like most of your video's. I thought this one was full of stimulating ideas. The Government appointed Beeching to stem BR's losses. It was seemingly a short-term Treasury-inspired fix, largely reliant (as always) on drastic pruning. Beeching retained most of the main arteries, radiating in and out of London. But, many routes linking sizeable population centres outside London, were cut. And vast numbers of rural branch lines were decimated. The BR 'problem' was framed in terms of an outmoded, financial albatross, unable to adapt and compete with expanding post-war forms of transport, most notably the private car and road transport. The same logic however, does not appear to have been followed in the case of motorways or bypasses, outside London. Some half-hearted attempts at railway 'modernization' were undetaken, but the kind of long-term strategic thinking, planning and major investment needed to develop a railway network able to meet changing economic and social needs, was largely absent - most certainly in the Dept. of Transport. However, I don't think BR should be seen in isolation. Much of Britain's industrial infrastructure hit the buffers in the following decades. Some other countries though, handled things differently, and viewed railways as a strategic industry, not in isolation, but as serving wider social and economic objectives. There are signs that railways are beginning to be looked at in similar ways this side of the Channel. But, as always, there are mixed signals, which can so quickly revert to red!

Thank you Paul for all your hard work researching this one very much appreciated.😊😊

Re Plate layers hut , that's a standard Southern Railway concrete version . Probably made at their main Exmouth works for all things concrete . Great video , love the Midland and South West junction Railway .

Maybe do both at Fullerton? Leave most of the flora but clear off just a portion of that raised platform with a heritage sign?

The fact that in 2019, the number of passengers using the railways are at its highest despite just under half of the railway network being closed and the network barely expanded then. This means that some level crossings had to close due to the rail traffic getting heavier and faster.

Personally, one of the shortfalls I've noticed is the lack of quality east-west connections north of london but south of leicester with the exception of the slow journey along the Marston Vale line (when trains are running). With the number of large towns close together in the region, it is ridiculous that there's no good connection between the West Coast, Midland, and East Coast Main Lines where they are so close to one another

Paul the reason for most railways was the carrying of freight or mineral items and when we changed the way that things like Iron & Steal were made then the need for these lines ceased. Living south of Northampton we have so many cross country lines that served the Iron Stone mining industry, connecting to the Midland Mainline or down to the GWR. So our locally quarried Iron Stone travelled down to the blast furnaces of the North Midlands or South Wales. If your add in the coal, clay and limestone you have a complex web of lines. Now when we started importing higher grades of Iron ore from Australia we no longer needed to quarry Iron Stone and these lines were not as profitable with just passengers. Other examples include the Hemel Hempstead to Luton line that supplied straw to the Luton Straw hat makers or the Metropolitan's extension to Verney Junction through which milk was transported to London (Express Dairies). They now form some lovely cross country paths. Finally as a PS you forgot to mention the current reinstatement of the East West Line (Oxford to Cambridge) offering new travel links and direct container links between Felixstowe and Southampton (but don't mention the rail freight part).

I really appreciate the amount of time and effort you put into these videos. This was a thoughtful, well constructed and beautifully edited broadcast. Thank you.

Thanks for the Credit for the Royal Commission map.

I used to live in a small town at the end of the Victoria live in East Sussex and work in West Sussex in a tiny village. When I went for the interview I was able to make the journey by a rickety bus, but it turned out that the earliest bus service would take me there after the start of a day shift and the last bus would leave before I would get off. We didn’t own a car at the time but eventually got one. It was an eleven mile ride each way. Good job I love cycling! Also, cycling would beat the bus time wise had there been a service that could actually service me. So what’s the problem? For one thing, it hampers the job market. If commuting by public transit were more available, more employers could find the right employees and vice versa.

One consequence of the cuts was the main lines immediately started losing money. Seems one of the important thing about those local lines that weren't profitable was that they fed local passenger to the main lines. Why drive part way to wherever to catch a train, just drive all the way.

Really enjoyed this.. live in Dorset and its fascinating seeing old railway bridges in some areas which remind us of the pre Beeching past!

Had that line still existed, I would have been going to school and work on those trains.. instead I spent hours as a kid on busses to school and back everyday.. and even more hours playing along the old line, going on adventures with our friends..

Thanks for another really interesting video

Well done Paul, great production and thought provoking. Very enjoyable to watch. A couple if great finds in the depths of the woods as well!! Have a great week

Interesting video and a good analysis of the issues

Very informative and entertaining

Really enjoyed that thanks Paul. Loving railway history. Thanks for share. Please take care

Thanks, a very good insight into rail history and why today the things are as they are

Lord Beeching was tasked with producing a report setting out proposals for making the railway system fit for the future. He did not close lines or stations; he only made recommendations. The statutory closure procedure was a matter for the government. Some closure recommendations were not accepted such as the lines west of Plymouth. .

Paul: you're a great presenter, storyteller and VT editor. Thank you for such a fascinating social history lesson about the railways - all contextualised on a walk along your old railway track!

Excellent video Paul! Thanks

A well presented and enjoyable video Paul, thank you.

5:14 It is interesting seeing Abergele down for closure, as Abergele & Pensarn (AGL) is active today (with a grand signal box).

Nice film Paul, and Rebecca.. Our railways are really and example of the old adage: if I was going there I wouldn’t start from here. Many of the lines and routes created in the 19th century was built not to provide a service but to prevent the company’s rivals from entering their territory and affecting profitability. But without this often insane competition, no railways would have been built. The dead hand of government is hopeless at pushing new ideas and technology so the private sector had to do the building and financing so where they go and who they served was a matter of trade and profit. Without profit there is nothing to invest so unprofitable lines would naturally wither and die. Nationalisation effectively removed the basic requirement for a line to pay its way so Beeching had to occur.

Great informative video! Thanks!

Same story near me, Braintree to Bishop's Stortford was about 15 minutes by train. But when that line was removed it's now well over an hour, have to travel all the way into central London to Liverpool Street which takes about 40 minutes and then come back out of London again on the other Greater Anglia line to B Stortford that's about 35 minutes... Absolute joke! They did build the A120 making it faster than ever by car but still a joke!

I like to think that we could build a railroad now that needs less maintenance. I get the feeling that with just spending 50% extra you could get a system that needs 80% less maintenance costs.

Excellent video, hope it shows in the viewing figures. Very relevant and informative without being judgmental.

What is not often mentioned was the decision to keep stream in 1945 when most of the world was moving to diesel. Cheaper at the time but more manpower intensive and less cost effective, so the realisation that diesel was the way to go lead to the Beeching Report. Of course only in the UK could a report be entrusted to someone who knew nothing about railways, but knew the decision he was expected to come to!!

One slight problem is that the proposal to close the Midland and South Western Junction Line was taken before 6th March 1961. There is a copy of the proposal notice on swindonsotherrailway. This is about 2 years before the Beeching Report. If you wanted to travel from Swindon Town station to Andover Junction station it would take about 1 hour 30 minutes in 1961 (details on swidonsotherrailway). They also have the details of a traffic survey for the week ending 19th November 1960 with some stations having no one boarding or alighting during the entire week. Not one station had more than 100 passengers boarding or alighting that week, the closest was Marlborough at 89 boarding and alighting (the majority were school children) . A total of 212 journeys Monday to Saturday and 4 on Sunday were made by BTC staff to carry out the survey work. They even considered the levels of usage of the buses and future developments along the route. They even looked at the records held by the GWR fir this line. I bet if we could find the other closure proposal documentation for the rest of the closed routes we'd find similar details.

Another great video, very informative. Thank you.

I remember a film of Betjeman riding to Burnham or Highbridge in Somerset, in the guard's van after passenger services where lost. He lamented at the busy state of the roads then. In the 60s. Sure, the road infrastructure wasn't created then that we have now, but when I'm on the motorway, and haulage trucks are there aplenty, I keep thinking - but if we'd just found a way to keep MORE branches and strip them down as needed, and then built small transport hubs - could that have worked better? BR did "use" the report to close lines that weren't even on the list - making sure inspectors turned up when the line was known to be less busy (witham priory to yatton, taking the railways away from some of the biggest tourist honeypots locally). It's a complex discussion but as Phill says in the next comment - the road lobbying seems to have been the real end of things - plus, in the 60s people wanted change. They believed the change would be good. But in a heartbeat I wish the main roads weren't quite so clogged with lorries. The pollution, noise, the way everyone drives.... it's too much. But railways, same as a lot of things, were political footballs, left & right of the spectrum. We had an opportunity in the 60s and indeed, as you so clearly highlight, much earlier still.

Fantastic video, one of my favourite subjects to cover.

The first question is, did the railway companies during WWI or after get paid by HMG after saving the nation. After investigation into Mr Ernest Marples, what should have happened was a total ban on building on the track bed and former station areas. There are a few former stations now reopening. The line from Harrogate to Northallerton needs to reopen, this was the route of the famous The Queen of Scots Pullman from London to Glasgow via Edinburgh!

great video again Paul and Rebecca , very interesting , well done and thank you 😊

Its a real shame there was no joined up thinking once Beechings cuts took effect either. Just after the cuts took effect, the once joined routes of the railways, started to be sold off bit by bit. Imagine if they had of kept all the routes open for new transport oppurtunities like roads, tramways , bussways or cycle lanes etc. Put another way, imagine if you wanted to open a brand new route a few hundred miles across Britain, it would result in humungous planning consultations and ridiculous money, eg HS2. In some towns for instance eg Luton, they turned the dissused Luton to Dunstable freight Line into a major new road that accessed the town centers directly and they incoporated a cycleway and found room for a guided bussway. Whereas in nearby Bedford, they sold off parcels of land from the old Hitchin to Bedford line , thus the oppurtunity to open a direct new road into the ridiculously busy town center was lost. Its a real pity someone during Beechings time didn't think about this potential for the future.

Production Quality has definitely gone up a notch 👍

That final few minutes of your summation was so right!

Very interesting video Paul

Top video yet again from you Paul. Thank you.

Great Content! as always Paul "Thank you"👍

Thanks Paul for another interesting and thought provoking Vlog

The mass closure of lines was inevitable as soon as the Railways were nationalised in 1948. Since the companies before were competing with one another, but when BR took over it had stations in the same place that were just loss making. Beeching had little idea of what he was doing. He failed to took into account that the small lines fed passengers into the smaller stations. The railways also were not allowed to compete with the road lobby. Prices were fixed, the road lobby undercut them. Who has ever heard of roads being closed because they don't make money? As for the future the private companies were not like the companies of the old days. They don't own the trains, they don't own the track or the stations. They can't set fares, they can't compete with the road services, they can't operate road services at the same time and they are being subsides more than what British Rail was. Now there's a new organisation called Great British Rail, which at the moment seems to be running pointless adds on TV about how good the railways are. When they are not, with trains being cancelled all the time, because private banks and funds don't want to pay staff the wages they should get.

Thanks Paul, good detail passed here. Regards sent from further up North.

Excellent video, oh what could have been, with, as you say, some joined up thinking.

Beeching's BIGGEST goof was closing the Great Central Railway "London extension" As the last railway into London it was built to a ruling gradient of 1/176 and with the most generous loading guage of any line. It also had the gentlest curves and the fewest stations because it didn't go out of it's way to serve small communities, instead giving a fast and direct line. Beeching actually used it as an example of underutilised rail facilities with a picture of one of the stations on the GC hosting a 12 coach express train with 2 people, a child and a dog on the platform! What he DIDN'T mention (or didn't know, or care) was that the train was the daily "newspaper" train which carried Fleet Street's finest to all points North leaving Marylebone at circa 1.30AM and going North at least as far as Sheffield, York etc. The stock and loco had to get back to London somehow, to repeat the process so it returned as a stopping passenger train during the day, even though there were few passengers to patronize it, it was at least generating a little income rather than just deadheading. But it unwittingly became part of his crusade and led directly to the scrapping of a line that could have BEEN what HS2 is trying to be now, for next to no money instead of billions! Short sighted in the extreme! But it can never be reinstated because large lumps of it have been built over and some huge engineering works like the lovely blue brick viaduct at Brackley have been demolished. What a waste!

There is an interesting nugget hidden in here. The graph at about 11.30 in the video shows the decline of the numbers using the railways. It was declining in the good old days when the networks were nationalised. After privatisation numbers started growing again. I was at Leeds University in the early 70's, often my train journey from Middlesbrough would be three legs. Maiddlesbrough to Darlington, darlo to York, York to Leeds. If I was lucky there might be a train direct from Leeds to Darlo but still had to change to get to Middlesbrough. There is a railway line between the east coast main line and Middlesbrough but no passenger traffic in the barren years, the station at Yarm was reopened in 1996 and now an hourly service runs from Manchester Airport to Teesside. The situation seems to be improving, stations and lines re opening. Still lots to do

Great video very interesting to watch

Wow paul . This was well done . I enjoyed this very much. I liked the balanced look from both sides . Cheers

Brilliant !

Whilst it is easy to quantify the costs and income of railways and then decide they run st a loss, roads are paid for out of general taxation and equally run at a great loss. But the road lobby is far more powerful than rail.

Great video. Many fan q's.

HS2 doesn’t represent joined up thinking arguably the opposite, it will create a bottleneck on the WCML wherever it joins be that a Lichfield with stage 1 or Crewe later on. And exists without consideration of how the network runs or is used. There’s little chance of many of the fast trains being taken off the WCML south of that because Coventry rugby and Milton Keynes are large conurbations that will strongly object to losing their fast trains. A joined up approach would have been to engage in smaller projects like dual track from Crewe to alsager and electrical infill projects.

Go ride Settle to Carlisle just for fun. Glad that stayed open, but bear in mind we'd never have the amazing super fast natiional cycle network without Beeching. Try cycling your route, you might be pleasantly surprised