Editing Richard Beeching (section)

== Stedeford Committee ==
Sir Ewart Smith, who retired from ICI in 1959, was asked by the [[Conservative Party (UK)|Conservative]] [[Secretary of State for Transport|Minister of Transport]], [[Ernest Marples]], to become a member of an advisory group on the financial state of the [[British Transport Commission]] to be chaired by Sir [[Ivan Stedeford]]. Smith declined but recommended Beeching in his place, a suggestion which Marples accepted.<ref name="Hardy"/> Stedeford and Beeching clashed on a number of issues connected with Beeching's proposal to drastically prune Britain's rail infrastructure. In spite of questions being asked in [[Parliament of the United Kingdom|Parliament]], Sir Ivan's report was not published until much later.