Editing Beeching cuts (section)

==The Beeching reports==

=== ''The Reshaping of British Railways'' (Beeching I) ===
[[File:Beeching axe 1 and NUR response.jpg|thumb|A copy of ''The Reshaping of British Railways'' report, displayed beside the [[National Union of Railwaymen]]'s response pamphlet]]
The first Beeching report, titled ''The Reshaping of British Railways'', was published on 27 March 1963.<ref>{{cite web |author=Garry Keenor |url=http://www.railwaysarchive.co.uk/docSummary.php?docID=13 |title=The Reshaping of British Railways – Part 1: Report |publisher=The Railways Archive |access-date=25 July 2010}}</ref>

The report starts by quoting the brief provided by the [[Prime Minister of the United Kingdom|Prime Minister]], [[Harold Macmillan]], from 1960: "First, the industry must be of a size and pattern suited to modern conditions and prospects. In particular, the railway system must be modelled to meet current needs, and the modernisation plan must be adapted to this new shape"{{sfn|Beeching|1963a|p=1}} and with the premise that the railways should be run as a profitable business.{{sfn|Beeching|1963a|p=2|loc="It is, of course the responsibility of the British Railways Board so to shape and operate the railways as to make them pay"}}

Beeching first studied traffic flows on all lines to identify "the good, the bad, and the indifferent".{{sfn|Beeching|1963a|p=3|loc="Ever since major amalgamations started, the business of railways has been, from a financial point of view, a mixture of good, bad, and indifferent"}} His analysis showed that the least-used 1,762 stations had annual passenger receipts of less than £2,500 each (£{{Formatprice|{{Inflation|UK|2500|1960|r=-3}}|0}} as of {{CURRENTISOYEAR}}{{Inflation-fn|UK|df=y}}), that over half of the 4,300 stations open to passengers in 1960 had receipts of less than £10,000,{{sfn|Beeching|1963a|p=65}} that the least-used 50% of stations contributed only 2% of passenger revenue,{{sfn|Beeching|1963a|p=66}} and that one third of route miles carried just 1% of passengers.{{sfn|Beeching|1963a|p=64}}

By way of example, he noted that the line from [[Thetford railway station|Thetford]] to [[Swaffham railway station|Swaffham]] carried five trains each weekday in each direction, carrying an average of nine passengers with only 10% of the costs of operating the line covered by fares; another example was the [[Crieff and Comrie Railway|Gleneagles-Crieff-Comrie line]] which had ten trains a day and five passengers on average, earning only 25% of costs. Finally there was the service from Hull to York via Beverley (using part of the [[Yorkshire Coast Line]], which was not closed, and the [[York to Beverley Line]], which was). The line covered 80% of its operating costs, but he calculated that it could be closed because there was an alternative, albeit less direct, route.{{sfn|Beeching|1963a|pp=96–99|loc=Appendix 2}}

Out of {{convert|18000|mi}} of railway, Beeching recommended that {{convert|6000|mi}}—mostly rural and industrial lines—should be closed entirely, and that some of the remaining lines should be kept open only for freight. A total of 2,363 stations were to close, including 435 already under threat, both on lines that were to close and on lines that were to remain open.{{sfn|Beeching|1963a|p=97}}

He recommended that freight services should mainly be for bulk commodities such as minerals and coal, and that the freight system make use of new [[containerised]] handling systems rather than less efficient and slower wagon-load traffic. The latter recommendation would prove prescient with the rise of [[intermodal freight transport]] in the following decades.{{sfn|Beeching|1963a|pp=141–148|loc=Appendix 4 – The Liner Train}}

===''The Development of the Major Railway Trunk Routes'' (Beeching II)===
[[File:Beeching2.svg|thumb|upright=0.9|A map of Great Britain, showing "major lines" identified by Beeching II in bold.]]

On 16 February 1965, Beeching introduced the second stage of his reorganisation of the railways. In his report, ''The Development of the Major Railway Trunk Routes'', he set out his conclusion that of the {{convert|7500|mi|km}} of trunk railway only {{convert|3000|mi|km}} "should be selected for future development" and invested in.

This policy would result in long-distance traffic being routed along nine lines. Traffic to [[Coventry]], [[Birmingham]], [[Manchester]], [[Liverpool]] and [[Scotland]] would be routed through the [[West Coast Main Line]] to [[Carlisle railway station|Carlisle]] and [[Glasgow]]; traffic to the north-east of England would be concentrated through the [[East Coast Main Line]] as far as [[Newcastle railway station|Newcastle]]; and traffic to [[Wales]] and the [[West Country]] would go on the [[Great Western Main Line]] to [[Swansea]] and [[Plymouth]].

Underpinning Beeching's proposals was his belief that there was too much duplication in the railway network: "The real choice is between an excessive and increasingly un-economic system, with a corresponding tendency for the railways as a whole to fall into disrepute and decay, or the selective development and intensive utilisation of a more limited trunk route system".{{sfn|Beeching|1965|p=45}} Of the {{convert|7500|mi|km}} of trunk route, {{convert|3700|mi|km}} involves a choice between two routes, {{convert|700|mi|km}} a choice of three, and over a further {{convert|700|mi|km}} a choice of four.<ref>{{cite news |work=The Times |title=The Second Stage of Dr. Beeching's Reorganisation Proposals |date=17 February 1965 |page=8}}</ref> In Scotland, only the [[Central Belt]] routes and the lines via Fife and Perth to Aberdeen were selected for development, and none were selected in Wales, apart from the Great Western Main Line as far as Swansea.

Beeching's [[secondment]] from [[Imperial Chemical Industries|ICI]] ended early in June 1965 after [[Harold Wilson]]'s attempt to get him to produce a transport plan failed. It is a matter of debate whether Beeching left by mutual arrangement with the government or if he was sacked. [[Frank Cousins (British politician)|Frank Cousins]], the Labour [[Minister of Technology]], told the [[House of Commons of the United Kingdom|House of Commons]] in November 1965 that Beeching had been dismissed by [[Tom Fraser]], then Minister of Transport.<ref>{{cite news |work=The Times |title=Mr. Cousins says 'We Sacked Beeching' |date=17 November 1965 |page=12}}</ref> Beeching denied this, pointing out that he had returned early to ICI as he would not have had enough time to undertake an in-depth transport study before the formal end of his secondment.<ref>{{cite news |work=The Times |title=Lord Beeching: 'I Was Not Sacked' |date=18 November 1965 |page=12}}</ref>