Document Summary

The 'Beeching Report' is one of the most notorious government reports of the 20th century. The failure of the modernisation plan to stem BR's losses led the author, Dr Beeching, to propose wholesale route closures in an attempt to concentrate resources on the core routes.

Many closures went ahead; some sensible, others far less so. The report often adopted an overly-simplistic analysis of the economics of the routes, failing to recognise how the branches contributed traffic to the core network. The Beeching closures failed in their attempt to eliminate BR's losses, and led to the belated recognition that the railways serve a social role which should be financially acknowledged.

This document was published on 27th March 1963 by His/Her Majesty's Stationery Office.

It was written by British Transport Commission.

The original document format was Paper, and comprised 148 pages.

This document was kindly sourced from Library Service and is in our Financial & economic reports collection. It was added to the Archive on 6th November 2004.

Copyright Information

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Timeline:
Beeching closures

December 1960
Reorganisation of the Nationalised Transport Undertakings

1963
Its Up to YOU! Save your Railways

1963
The Mis-Shaping of British Railways - Part 1: Retort

27th March 1963
The Reshaping of British Railways - Part 1: Report

27th March 1963
The Reshaping of British Railways - Part 2: Maps

2nd May 1963
The Economics and Social Aspects of the Beeching Plan

1965
Review of Dr Beeching's Report The Reshaping of British Railways

February 1965
The Development Of The Major Railway Trunk Routes

February 1965
The Transport Conflict by Dr Beeching