Of course only an idiot would now say that the Beeching cuts were necessary. We need to forget that time and get on with rebuilding our rail network - firstly to reverse all the Beeching cuts, then start filling in the gaps with interurbans, light railways and industrial routes, ready for an oilless future. Not only does rebuilding and extending the network need to happen quickly but so does electrification of the entire rail network - and yes I do include heritage routes, narrow gauge lines etc!
Scotland is starting the process, albieit very slowly. Take a listen to this http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b0120783/Reversing_Dr_Beeching/
2 comments:
I concur with this comment, if you look at what is happening to the Cotswold line at present from Charlbury to Evesham it is heartening to see the second track being put back in its rightful place.
Also Swindon - Kemble is now going to be restored to double track in the next few years. Remembering what the BR network looked like in the early 1980,s it is heartening to see these early beginnings. I hope that the Tisbury loop will be extended one of these days as it is very silly having to sit in the open countryside waiting to clear the single line to Wilton and these days many trains cross at this loop.
The Salisbury-Exeter line has also been upgraded and will continue to be improved for 21st century traffic flows. Hopefully by the time you can change at Templecombe for Bath, Bristol, Bournemouth, Wells and Southampton the whole route will be double tracked and open again all the way to Plymouth and electrified throughout.
Yet still a few people seem to think that we are still in the 70s, lines are still being singled and freight traffic lost to the roads, while the reverse is the case.
The fact that the railways have been untouched by the spending cuts whilst roads are being left to decay shows just how far the transport tables have turned in the last 30 years.
But this is of course only the beginning!
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