British Rail - British Rail The Beeching Reports - B

British Rail - B
 
British Rail The Beeching Reports
 
During the late 1950s, railway finances continued to worsen, whilst passenger numbers grew after restoring many services reduced during the war, and in 1959 the government stepped in, limiting the amount the BTC could spend without ministerial authority. A White Paper proposing reorganisation was published in the following year, and a new structure was brought into effect by the Transport Act 1962. This abolished the commission and replaced it by several separate boards. These included a British Railways Board, which took over on 1 January 1963.
 
Following semi-secret discussions on railway finances by the government-appointed Stedeford Committee in 1961, one of its members, Dr Richard Beeching, was offered the post of chairing the BTC while it lasted and then became the first Chairman of the British Railways Board.
 
A major traffic census in April 1961, which lasted one week, was used in the compilation of a report on the future of the network. This report—The Reshaping of British Railways—was published by the BRB in March 1963. The proposals, which became known as the Beeching cuts, were dramatic. A third of all passenger services and more than 4,000 of the 7,000 stations would close.
 
Beeching, who is thought to have been the author of most of the report, set out some dire figures. One third of the network was carrying just 1% of the traffic. Of the 18,000 passenger coaches, 6,000 were said to be used only 18 times a year or less. Although maintaining them cost between £3 million and £4 million a year, they earned only about £0.5 million.
 
Most of the closures were carried out between 1963 and 1970 (including some which were not listed in the report), while other suggested closures were not carried out. The closures were heavily criticised at the time. A small number of stations and lines closed under the Beeching programme have been reopened, with further reopenings proposed.
 
A second Beeching report, "The Development of the Major Trunk Routes", followed in 1965. This did not recommend closures as such but outlined a "network for development". The fate of the rest of the network was not discussed in the report.
 
British Rail Post-Beeching
 
The basis for calculating passenger fares changed in 1964. In future, fares on some routes—such as rural, holiday and commuter services—would be set at a higher level than on other routes, previously, fares had been calculated using a simple rate for the distance travelled, which at the time was 3d per mile second class, and 4½d per mile first class (equivalent to £0.27 and £0.4 respectively, in 2021.
 
In 1966, a "Whites only" recruitment policy for guards at Euston station agreed between the local union branch and station management was dropped after the case of Asquith Xavier, a migrant from Dominica, who had been refused promotion on those grounds, was raised in Parliament and taken up by the then Secretary of State for Transport, Barbara Castle.
 
Passenger levels decreased steadily from 1962 to the late 1970s, and reached a low in 1982. Network improvements included completing electrification of the Great Eastern Main Line from London to Norwich between 1976 and 1986 and the East Coast Main Line from London to Edinburgh between 1985 and 1990. A mainline route closure during this period of relative network stability was the 1,500 V DC-electrified Woodhead line between Manchester and Sheffield: passenger service ceased in 1970 and goods in 1981.
 
The 1980s and 1990s saw the closure of some railways which had survived the Beeching cuts a generation earlier but which had seen passenger services withdrawn. This included the bulk of the Chester and Connah's Quay Railway in 1992, the Brierley Hill to Walsall section of the South Staffordshire line in 1993, while the Birmingham to Wolverhampton section of the Great Western Railway was closed in three phases between 1972 and 1992.
 
A further British Rail report from a committee chaired by Sir David Serpell was published in 1983. The Serpell Report made no recommendations as such but did set out various options for the network, including, at their most extreme, a skeletal system of less than 2,000 route km (1,240 miles). This report was not welcomed, and the government decided to quietly leave it on the shelf. Meanwhile, BR was gradually reorganised, with the regional structure finally being abolished and replaced with business-led sectors. This process, known as "sectorisation", led to far greater customer focus on the dedicated sectors.
 
British Rail Overview
 
British Rail Type: State-owned enterprise
British Rail Industry: Railway transport, logistics, shipping, and manufacturing of rolling stock
British Rail Predecessor:
Great Western Railway
London, Midland & Scottish Railway
London & North Eastern Railway
Southern Railway
British Rail Founded: 1 January 1948
British Rail Defunct: 20 November 1997
British Rail Fate: Privatised
British Rail Successor:
National Rail
Train Operating Franchises:
Railtrack
EWS
Freightliner
British Rail Headquarters: London, England
British Rail Area Served: Great Britain
British Rail Key People: Alastair Morton
(Final Chairman of the British Railways Board)
British Rail Products: Rail transport, cargo transport, services
British Rail Owner: Government of the United Kingdom
British Rail Parent:
1948–1962:
British Transport Commission
1962–1997:
British Railways Board
British Rail Divisions:
From 1948:
Eastern Region
London Midland Region
North Eastern Region
Scottish Region
Southern Region
Western Region
British Rail Research Division
Collection & Delivery
Freightliner
Motorail
Night Star Parcels
Speedlink
Rail Express Parcels
Red Star Parcels
From 1982:
InterCity
Network SouthEast
Railfreight
Railfreight Distribution
Rail Express Systems
Regional Railways
Trainload Freight
British Rail Subsidiaries:
British Rail Engineering Ltd
British Transport Hotels
European Passenger Services
Sealink
Seaspeed
Travellers Fare
 
Rail Holidays
Rail Vacations
Luxury Trains
Luxury Tours
International Trains
International Tours
www.Rail-Pass.com
                             
home www.Rail-Pass.com Rail-Pass & Train Tickets & International Rail Holidays Hotel Booking & Hotel Reservations & Hotel Accomodation B&B Booking & B&B Reservations & B&B Accommodation Hostel Booking & Youth Hostel Reservations & Hostel Accommodation Chalet Rental & Holiday Homes & Vacation Homes Ski Pass Booking & Ski Pass Reservations & Ski Lift Pass Flight Tickets & Airline Reservations & Flight Booking Ferry Tickets & Ferry Booking & Ferry Reservations Car Rental Booking & Car Hire Reservations Excursions & Days Out & Day Trips & Theme Parks Rail Pass Booking & Rail Pass Reservations & Eurail & Interrail Rail Tickets & Rail Reservations & International Train Tickets Weekend Trips & Weekend Breaks & Weekend Away  Travel Insurance & Business Travel Insurance Eurotunnel Tickets & Eurotunnel Le Shuttle Reservations
Search: