Government, the Railways and the Modernization of Britain: Beeching's Last Trains

More than 40 years after its publication, the 1963 Beeching Report on British railways remains controversial for recommending the closure of a third of Britain’s railways.

In this book, Charles Loft examines:

• why the nationalized railways were in such dire financial straits by 1963
• how government work on future transport needs led to conclusions which would have cut Britain’s railways down by thousands of miles
• what difficulties eventually halted attempts by Conservative and Labour gover...