Editing Beeching cuts (section)

{{Short description|1963–65 plan to rationalise the British railway system}}
{{Use British English|date=February 2021}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2024}}
[[File:Lobb Ghyll Viaduct.jpg|thumb|The overgrown viaduct across Lobb Ghyll on the [[Skipton to Ilkley Line]] in Yorkshire, built by the Midland Railway in 1888 and closed in 1965]]
[[File:Railway bridge over the river Spey - geograph.org.uk - 59001.jpg|thumb|upright=0.75|A nineteenth-century railway bridge over the [[River Spey]], closed in 1965 and now part of the [[Moray Coast trail]]]]
[[File:Bridge near Pound Farm - geograph.org.uk - 1545321.jpg|thumb|Part of the former [[Chippenham and Calne line]], now a [[Cycling infrastructure#Bikeways|cycleway]]]]
The '''Beeching cuts''', also colloquially referred to as the '''Beeching Axe''', were a major series of route closures and service changes made as part of the restructuring of the [[nationalised]] [[British Rail|railway system in Great Britain]] in the 1960s. They are named for [[Richard Beeching|Dr. Richard Beeching]], then-chair of the [[British Railways Board]] and the author of two reports{{snd}}'''''The Reshaping of British Railways''''' (1963) and '''''The Development of the Major Railway Trunk Routes''''' (1965){{snd}} that set out proposals for restructuring the railway network, with the stated aim of improving economic efficiency.

The first report identified 2,363 stations and {{convert|5000|mi}} of railway line for closure, amounting to 55% of stations, 30% of route miles, and the loss of 67,700 British Rail jobs,<ref>{{cite news |date=1 January 1994 |title=The 1963 Cabinet Papers / British Rail: Beeching branded 'PR disaster'|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/the-1963-cabinet-papers-british-rail-beeching-branded-pr-disaster-over-rail-network-cuts-1397205.html |access-date=21 May 2021 |work=The Independent |last=Macintyre |first=D.}}</ref> 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 report identified a small number of major routes for significant investment. Such was the scale of these cuts that the programme came to be colloquially referred to as the Beeching Axe, though the 1963 report also recommended some less well-publicised changes; including a switch to the now-standard practice of [[containerisation]] for rail freight, and the replacement of some services with integrated bus services linked to the remaining railheads.

Protests resulted in the saving of some stations and lines, but the majority were closed as planned. 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 railway]]s, while others have been incorporated into the [[National Cycle Network]] or used for road schemes. Others have since been built over, have reverted to farmland, or remain derelict with no plans for any reuse or redevelopment. Some, such as the bulk of the [[Midland Metro]] network around [[Birmingham]] and [[Wolverhampton]], have since been incorporated into [[light rail]] lines.