Should we reverse Dr Beeching's cuts?
Discussion
fido said:
I would rather concentrate resources on the main urban centres - starting with Cross Rail 2 - this would have a far greater benefit to the revenue-generating parts of the economy.
Says the Londoner 
Make other areas easy to get to with public transport and you expand the revenue-generating parts of the economy. It is exactly this that happened when they first built the rail network to fuel the industrial revolution. It will/should happen again both economically and environmentally.
Edited by Dont like rolls on Tuesday 29th October 13:42
You'd have an awfully hard time in most places as the tracks were pulled up years ago.
But I think it would at least be worth seriously considering given the current state of public transport in rural areas. I don't think I have ever lived somewhere that wasn't formerly served by a line that was closed after Mr Beeching's report.
But I think it would at least be worth seriously considering given the current state of public transport in rural areas. I don't think I have ever lived somewhere that wasn't formerly served by a line that was closed after Mr Beeching's report.
No, but the comment about Cross Rail is right. However need needs to be applied to more cities. It should be possible to get into Manchester, Bristol, Birmingham etc easily from the surrounding areas.
I suspect Crossrail is going to transform M4 traffic. It's certainly going to get me out of driving to London. It just needs to be done to more cities.
I suspect Crossrail is going to transform M4 traffic. It's certainly going to get me out of driving to London. It just needs to be done to more cities.
Unless rail prices decrease significantly then I wouldn't be using it. The only time I get on a train is for work or when I go out for a drink and there's a direct train home. For almost anything else it is often either inconvenient or more expensive; usually both. If you travel by car with more than one occupant then it is likely to be far cheaper than getting the train.
Cupramax said:
I’d be interested to know what if any is still available to be reused. I live in a village that had a railway culled by Beeching and it’s now a combination of road/trailway and industrial estate so completely unable to be reinstated.
This is the case, sadly. I would say there are very few, if any, routes that have a continuous run of any significance that doesn't have a housing estate etc on it breaking up the run.
Real shame, as you only have to look elsewhere in the world to see how viable & essential rail transport is.
Cupramax said:
I’d be interested to know what if any is still available to be reused. I live in a village that had a railway culled by Beeching and it’s now a combination of road/trailway and industrial estate so completely unable to be reinstated.
Similar in many places. One heritage steam railway wanted to extend their line, but couldn't due to a cricket club having built a pitch across the line and were unwilling to sell. There are several derelict/disused lines near my new home. One has the problem that it has been built over by an industrial estate, and parts of the other one have been turned into the A338 Bournemouth Spur Road. In other places the rail bed has been made to disappear completely under housing.Some have been re-purposed as a cycle way across the New Forest, but huge sections can't be used, because they are privately owned. Nothing is going on on it, and it hasn't been bulldozed/erased. It just lies there dormant under a thickening canopy of saplings and a couple of feet of muddy water because the land owner won't budge on selling it.
Whether the routes are reinstated for rail use or re-purposed as long distance off-road walking/cycling routes, I think they ought to be brought back into public ownership and utilised as a resource that might just go a little way to reducing congestion/pollution, or at least would give families and cycle commuters much safer routes away from sharing with motorised traffic. They are, after all, for the most part still there, and just need resuscitating from their deep slumber.
Fine example of short term thinking in politics during the ‘Beeching’ era. The U.K were busy pulling the infrastructure apart whilst Europe were busy building and expanding theirs. Plenty of tram lines
in the U.K. met the same fate. We also managed to nigh on ruin our canal system for good measure. Not to be out done we then went on to pull down thousands of oak framed 15th / 16th / 17th century oak framed houses and replace them with concrete tall blocks of ugliness.
Proud heritage vandalised by political idiots.
in the U.K. met the same fate. We also managed to nigh on ruin our canal system for good measure. Not to be out done we then went on to pull down thousands of oak framed 15th / 16th / 17th century oak framed houses and replace them with concrete tall blocks of ugliness.
Proud heritage vandalised by political idiots.
spookly said:
Unless rail prices decrease significantly then I wouldn't be using it. The only time I get on a train is for work or when I go out for a drink and there's a direct train home. For almost anything else it is often either inconvenient or more expensive; usually both. If you travel by car with more than one occupant then it is likely to be far cheaper than getting the train.
This. This is definitely NOT the age of the train. That time has passed. Getting into London from Farnborough? Swift, direct, and reasonably affordable comparing the cost of driving/parking with rail travel. But for every extra passenger the train fare doubles. With an additional car passenger, the entire cost (per person) halves. And you get to choose the music and set the heating yourself too. The comparison, now I've moved out to Bournemouth, gets worse. The train is now less swift, less direct in some cases, and less frequent. Yet my car still leaves exactly when i need it to leave, and it never goes off without me because the bus service to the station didn't run.In short, while we have the option to drive, especially when we can fill a car and share out the cost, we are not going to share the train with other people with dubious hygiene habits and questionable manners unless train travel becomes a whole lot less expensive. So dreaming about an extensive "branch line" railway network for the 21st Century is going to be pie-in-the-sky until such time as motorists are priced/legislated out of cars and into alternative forms of transport.
@ Yellowjack
Your points are of course correct but they miss the point.
If you provided enough stick and carrot to persuade all ( or even most or many of ) the people travelling in single-occupant cars from Farnborough to take the train, then the journey by road would be much more pleasant and less congested for the people travelling in full cars or for those travelling from Bournemouth.
Surely then everyone is happy?
Your points are of course correct but they miss the point.
If you provided enough stick and carrot to persuade all ( or even most or many of ) the people travelling in single-occupant cars from Farnborough to take the train, then the journey by road would be much more pleasant and less congested for the people travelling in full cars or for those travelling from Bournemouth.
Surely then everyone is happy?
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