Uploaded April 2019 | Updated September 2026, 1 week ago
The Beeching cuts (also Beeching Axe) were a reduction of route network and restructuring of the railways in Great Britain, according to a plan outlined in two reports, The Reshaping of British Railways (1963) and The Development of the Major Railway Trunk Routes (1965), written by Dr Richard Beeching and published by the British Railways Board.
The first report identified 2,363 stations and 5,000 miles (8,000 km) of railway line for closure, 55% of stations and 30% of route miles, with an objective of stemming the large losses being incurred during a period of increasing competition from road transport and reducing the rail subsidies necessary to keep the network running; the second identified a small number of major routes for significant investment. The 1963 report also recommended some less well-publicised changes, including a switch to containerisation for rail freight.
Protests resulted in the saving of some stations and lines, but the majority were closed as planned, and Beeching's name remains associated with the mass closure of railways and the loss of many local services in the period that followed. A few of these routes have since reopened, some short sections have been preserved as heritage railways, while others have been incorporated into the National Cycle Network or used for road schemes; others now are lost to construction, have reverted to farmland, or remain derelict.
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
Get my merchandise: shop.spreadshirt.com/100033598
My other channel: youtube.com/channel/UC4-RgRCk6uuINdOqVdzi5YQ/videos
Follow me on Tumblr:
schnooleheletteletto.tumblr.com
Follow me on Twitter:
twitter.com/Schnoolehelette
Like me on Facebook:
facebook.com/pages/Schnooleheletteletto/1395793570686283
The Beeching cuts (also Beeching Axe) were a reduction of route network and restructuring of the railways in Great Britain, according to a plan outlined in two reports, The Reshaping of British Railways (1963) and The Development of the Major Railway Trunk Routes (1965), written by Dr Richard Beeching and published by the British Railways Board.
The first report identified 2,363 stations and 5,000 miles (8,000 km) of railway line for closure, 55% of stations and 30% of route miles, with an objective of stemming the large losses being incurred during a period of increasing competition from road transport and reducing the rail subsidies necessary to keep the network running; the second identified a small number of major routes for significant investment. The 1963 report also recommended some less well-publicised changes, including a switch to containerisation for rail freight.
Protests resulted in the saving of some stations and lines, but the majority were closed as planned, and Beeching's name remains associated with the mass closure of railways and the loss of many local services in the period that followed. A few of these routes have since reopened, some short sections have been preserved as heritage railways, while others have been incorporated into the National Cycle Network or used for road schemes; others now are lost to construction, have reverted to farmland, or remain derelict.
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
Get my merchandise: shop.spreadshirt.com/100033598
My other channel: youtube.com/channel/UC4-RgRCk6uuINdOqVdzi5YQ/videos
Follow me on Tumblr:
schnooleheletteletto.tumblr.com
Follow me on Twitter:
twitter.com/Schnoolehelette
Like me on Facebook:
facebook.com/pages/Schnooleheletteletto/1395793570686283
