Railway Renaissance
Britain's Railways After Beeching
Gareth David
- “David’s
- superb
- book
- looks
- at
- the
- defiant
- renaissance
- of
- such
- heritage
- railways
- .
- .
- .
- in
- contrast
- to
- Beeching’s
- vision
- of
- a
- streamlined
- railway
- network.”
- —Books
- MonthlyWhen
- a
- 35
- mile
- stretch
- of
- the
- former
- Waverley
- route
- from
- Edinburgh
- to
- Carlisle
- reopened
- on
- 6
- September
- 2015,
- it
- became
- the
- most
- significant
- reopening
- of
- any
- UK
- railway
- since
- the
- infamous
- Beeching
- Report,
- “The
- Reshaping
- of
- British
- Railways,”
- was
- published
- in
- March
- 1963.In
- his
- report,
- Dr.
- Richard
- Beeching
- recommended
- sweeping
- closures
- of
- lines
- across
- the
- UK
- to
- improve
- the
- financial
- performance
- of
- British
- railways,
- which
- led
- to
- wholesale
- closures
- over
- the
- following
- decade
- and
- a
- reduction
- in
- the
- UK
- rail
- network
- from
- 18,000
- miles
- in
- 1963,
- to
- some
- 11,000
- miles
- a
- decade
- later.But
- since
- that
- low
- point
- was
- reached
- in
- the
- early
- 1970s
- a
- revolution
- has
- been
- taking
- place.
- Passenger
- traffic
- on
- the
- railways
- is
- now
- at
- its
- highest
- level
- since
- the
- 1940s
- and
- from
- Alloa
- to
- Aberdare,
- as
- well
- as
- from
- Mansfield
- to
- Maesteg,
- closed
- lines
- have
- reopened
- and
- the
- tide
- of
- Beeching
- closures
- has
- been
- gradually
- rolled
- back.
- Scores
- of
- stations
- have
- been
- reopened
- and
- on
- many
- of
- the
- newly
- revived
- lines,
- passenger
- traffic
- is
- far
- exceeding
- the
- forecasts
- used
- to
- support
- their
- reopening.In
- this
- comprehensive
- survey
- of
- new
- and
- reopened
- railways
- and
- stations
- across
- England,
- Scotland
- and
- Wales,
- Gareth
- David
- asks
- what
- it
- tells
- us
- about
- Dr.
- Beeching’s
- report,
- looking
- at
- how
- lines
- that
- were
- earmarked
- for
- closure
- in
- that
- report,
- but
- escaped
- the
- axe,
- have
- fared
- and
- reviews
- the
- host
- of
- further
- routes,
- which
- are
- either
- set
- to
- be
- reopened
- or
- are
- the
- focus
- of
- reopening campaigns.
pro-mbooks3 : libris
