Well the Minister for Transport was Mr Ernest Marples and he just happened to own a road making business, and it was Mr Marples who instructed Dr Beeching and guess whose road making business made a great deal of money...
Tony Hancock was paid half what Beeching was paid to do a spoof report on the state of British Rail, Ian Hislop did a documentary about Beeching a few years ago
6:56 no one would expect our road network to be run as a commercial operation that makes a profit. Nowadays the railway companies primarily exist to make profits for their shareholders
Ah, this old chestnut. The annual tax take from motorists is far higher than the budget for road building and maintenance, so the road network essentially does generate a profit. Plus, everyone in the country directly or indirectly uses roads everyday.
"No one would expect our road network to be run as a commercial operation that make a profit " The previous reply notwithstanding this statement is not correct. There have been a number of proposals to do just that and we do have a number of road/infrastructure assets which are run for profit.
Well no… LNER, Northern, Transpennine, SouthEastern, ScotRail, Transport for Wales, Transpennine, Caledonian Sleeper, Network Rail are all in state hands. With all companies, 100% of your fare is paid directly to HM Treasury and the Dept for Transport pay the companies a management fee. There’s little profit in operating a railway these days.
@@pj100565No profit - really? The ORR highlights net profit margins rose to 41.3% in 2022-23 period, with the remaining (majority) railway operators giving £409.7 million to their shareholders in dividends: Go Ahead, First, Arriva, Trenitalia, Transport UK. Even before the pandemic this was the case.
Remember when we had an integrated transport system? This was done just as steam was being phased out which meant 1 less man per loco, railcars and DMUs were appearing, level crossings were being automated etc, another decade and the whole thing would have been cheaper to run anyway. My local rural station/line closed and is now a cycle path. It's no longer rural and surrounded by housing estates along it's length, total lost opportunity. Why not mothball them like happened in Europe? Just heard a good saying recently, "Britain is a poor country connected to a very rich city"
Mothballing costs money, especially if you want the line quickly available. The Bramley Line is said to have been mothballed but would take months to reinstate physically as the line is overgrown by trees, and all the level crossings have been removed. There was no integrated transport system in the majority of the country. In most places you couldn't use the same ticket on the local buses and trains. Tge multiple units were single-manned in the cab, but locomotive remained two-manned until relatively recently.
My late father worked his way up through the British Railways ranks, starting out as a boiler washer. Just as he qualified as a driver our local locomotive depot was closed down, both local branch lines were shut, and he was made redundant. That was in 1965. We were all set to emigrate to Rhodesia where he had a job lined up at the Bulawayo loco depot when British Railways took him back on as station staff. He retired in 1989 as a Station Master.
@ - My comment has everything to do with with this video because Beeching closed the two branch lines that my father worked on, thus making him redundant. And for ‘bragging’, no, that’s fatherly pride in that he was able to bounce back from Beeching’s life-changing impact upon him.
It happened to some extent in every western country. The US, germany, france. I guess the big issue in the UK is that thanks to the town & country planning act (ie, green belt) our cities did not grow organically & urbanization did not continue. Go to rural germany & a lot of their villages havent grown (or even maintained) their 1950s size) as everyone has been able to move to cities which have grown. In the UK, 'green belt hopping' occurs & villages & towns are enlarged 20 miles outside of a provincial city. Its a lot easier to offer rail services to a highly urbanized population (as in those living in cities >100,000) than it is a disparate population of small towns and large villages, as much of England is. Unless we undo 70 years of urban planning in the UK, I don't really think large scale expansion of UK rail is feasible. Much better IMO to liberalize & encourage the use of ebikes & escooters & provide if not dedicated networks for them, better foot & cycle paths to accomodate them.
The railways were in a long term decline since 1914. Grouping and nationalisation resulted in identification of duplication which resulted in closures. Plus buses, trams and the motor car resulted in closures before Beeching came on scene.
1961: DR BEECHING and the State of BRITISH RAIL | Panorama | Voice of the People | BBC Archive 20.11.24 0815am trouble is sitting on that filthy carriage yer come out feeling all soiled and rank. same with travelling on bus...
@@FlibDokky the highest paid person in network rail earns around £600k and there's tons of other people earning high amounts in the railway too. Beeching's salary was a massive increase on his predecessor however, and it's only been in the last 30 years or so that railway jobs have been well paid
Much of the 4CEP/BEP fleet had BR1 bogies which rode very badly and is why the bogies were replaced with Commonwealth bogies when the CEP/BEPfleet was refurbished in the 1970s.
1961: DR BEECHING and the State of BRITISH RAIL | Panorama | Voice of the People | BBC Archive 0811am 20.11.24 so they keep saying... but i've just watched: 1980: PETER DUNCAN cleaning Big Ben is NERVE-WRACKING | Blue Peter | Classic BBC clips | BBC Archive
You realise that Beeching didn’t close a single station or mile of track? Ministers did, and the bulk were in the Labour government long after Beeching had gone.
….and to their own agendas. He knew that would happen. It’s what ‘consultants’ do. Enable others to make the tough decisions they want to make, evidenced by a loaded report.
@@gaycha6589 nobody forced them too. The following Labour government promised to halt closures but actually delivered the majority of closures, including some lines Beecing recommended keeping open.
Different world. I note in the 'Beeching 2' plans, even cities like Cambridge would have their rail stations removed, but the industrial north looked less affected. I doubt middling civil servants like Beeching had any idea the forced de-industialization of the UK would be initiated within 10 years, grossly changing the economic balance of power within the UK.
Beeching actually propeoaed many of these routes to be mothballed not ripped up. That came about because the government over rode the recommendations and decided to sell the materials and land 💷💷💷 Also if it wasn't for Beeching then there'd be no preserved railways, possibly even no preserved steam and diesel locomotives either.
Really? I find that hard to believe. Are there official documents detailing this? We were still well into the overspill era in 1961, with land values pretty low, even in the South East, building on virginal farmland was still cheap & quite easy. Most of the redundant rail tracks were built on for decades & a 20-30ft wide strip of land doesnt accomodate much. A lot are still empty now, just wasteland I guess some sidings (March cambridgeshire used to be the biggest sidings in Europe, and now a prison stands on the site) took up serious acreage, but not really serious money at the time.
@Nick-io9uk I've forgotten what I read, but it was a document or similar at the east Anglian railway museum. I've asked about and most people agree and haven't said otherwise yet
@@Bungle-UK they closed one third of the network, Bungle. Using very crude data. Many of those lines would be invaluable now. Not all of course, but many.
@ Some would have been but the majority were not to be missed. Closures begin before the First World War, so decades before Beeching. The overwhelming majority of closures were taking out lines that had very little rationale for being there in the first place.
Interesting stuff. Thanks. Does Beeching start to sound a little manic and speeded-up towards the end of his interview? Looks like someone with something on his mind that's yet to be revealed.
He did more damage then good, all this bs environmental rubbish today Is down to him taking railway away from people and forcing them in to cars to go to work, shop or schools
People weren't forced to go in cars, they prefer their own space instead of sharing with smelly joe public, and cars were becoming more affordable and obtainable.
Inflation adjusted Dr Beeching was being paid around £475,000 a year. As someone born in the 1970s he's only ever been a name in history texts as someone who decimated the rail system, fascinating to see the man himself. I do have to say, what are half those accents people have? You simply don't find such unique accents in the south-east these days, we all more or less sound very similar with very little variation. Great vid.
A very clever man who knew his own financial worth and fulfilled the brief given to him by the Transport Minister. Beeching didn't receive a bonus for closing railway lines and wasn't pressured by anyone. He received a high salary, controversial at the time, which was the same he was getting at ICI who gave him 5 years leave of absence( so they wanted him back). It's passed into railway folklore that the cuts which followed his 1963 report were " Breeching cuts " but as someone else has pointed out he didn't close a single mile of track or a single station: it was down to the Tory Transport Minister/ Government who adopted his recommendations and the Labour government which replaced it ( and actually accelerated closures up to the end of the decade).
A lot of the BR old guard senior management where appalled with the way Beeching spoke to staff. By all accounts he was polite, kind and courteous to all grades and didn’t look down at them.
When Beeching was interviewed 10 years late he was asked if he had any regrets. He said he did, and that he should have closed the East Coast main line as the country didn't need an east and west mainline.
@@joegibbs448 the decision were broadly correct at the time, hence closures pushed through by both main political parties. No good looking back with hindsight
@@Bungle-UK "Those are do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it". The railways were built on a unique combination of cheap labour and Victorian ambition, and were destroyed at the stroke of a pen.
@@Bungle-UK The south east commuter belt lost relatively few of its lines under Beeching, while other areas like the Scottish borders were gutted of local connections. Stations that survived have seen exponential increase in passengers in many cases, as traffic volume into cities and parking charges have made driving unsustainable.
The railway was the faster cousin of the Canal Network and worked in tandem with it, very successfully for a Decade until Labour decided it was in the country's interest to sell all it's industries to other nations and lean on Europe for everything x
@@MannyAntipov Neither Party are totally innocent but take a look at Labour's consistent Pro-Europe/The Free-Market messaging dating back to the 1890's, it'll tell you everything you need to know. All major Industrial sell-offs were instituted by Labour and completed by following Conservative governments once the damage had already been done and I say that as someone from a Coal Mining Community in S. Wales. Don't be blinded by the redwall, look at the facts x
@@kaelaleedaleyTell me which government changed the strike action rules so they could win against coal miners and close the pits without replacement? Tell me which political party sold off utilities, bus companies, the Royal Mail and British Rail? Tell me who reorganised the NHS so they could compete against each other rather than serve in the interests of the public? I’ll wait…
Just remember at a similar time Japan had exactly the same problem as Britain but they invested in their railway. They have one of the best rail systems on planet earth and ours is awful. France also did the same as us cutring the railways and everything kept getting worse. Until they also invested in their railways and they again have one of the best and iconic systems in the world, developing the fastest productiom passenger train in the world.
Benching is responsible for death on public transport in rural areas - dor subsequent motor car proliferation and road build maintain cost spirals. And moreover for decline of British primary heavy industry that relied on rail freight. I am sure he lined pockets well though. Just like they all continue to do.
The man's recommendations killed entire industries, especially those based outside London. The lace, tin and market garden trade from the South West of England was decimated by the closure of well-used freight and passenger routes. Other parts of the UK suffered in exactly the same way - the forgotten faces that helped to literally put food on our tables. The Labour Government had and still has a real problem with future planning x
£24,000 in 1961 = c.£500,000 in today's money....a very good salary, far above what most CEOs today get whether in public or private sector. I suppose there had to be some compensation for being the most hated man in Britain at that time.....but, the reality is that the railways could not have continued as they were and he had to make some necessary but unpopular decisions
Its so scary how this man has no regard for the good of helping people "someone should have to pay" NO, life and traveling and housing should be free, its not a business to exist, this kind of scummy greedy destructive mindset is what will destroy humanity, we already see it with billionaires and AI
Interesting the interviewer picks up on the fact that around then the tax bracket for 24k a year was mental - was it 80% or more ? meaning that 10k more than 14k went nearly all in taxes. So, basically since it was the government paying him, they got most of it back immediately. If they'd paid him 50k a year it wouldn't have made much real difference.
Sad really, I think to a degree his hands were tied by the fact he wanted a profit/loss organisation but a lot of what he said made sense when you consider the state of the system. That said, my area (West Norfolk) is flogged by car traffic at times due to the traffic heading to Hunstanton. If that line was in place they could make a fortune by creating a massive, railway, park and ride system even using trams like some European countries do. It's such a shame we lost so much but economics at the time said it was unsustainable. Now... bring them back and free up the tarmac a bit!!!!
Beeching himself sounds a lot like then future PM James Callaghan to my ears, although I believe they were both raised along the south coast at similar times.
I have an unpopular opinion...first of all, I generally consider myself a proponent of rail travel and I thoroughly enjoy taking the train under most circumstances. I've been a "train guy" my whole life. However, it is my belief and opinion that a lot of the cuts Beeching proposed (though not all) were necessary, at least with 1960s eyes. Britain did have thousands of miles of competing rail lines, stations serving very few people, and an old, dirty, inefficient infrastructure that would have required a massive influx of new capital to continue or update. How is that a way to run a network? Some lines might have benefitted from light rail or tramways replacing main line trackage but that wasn't always practical or the technology wasn't available in the 1960s and 70s. Beeching is vilified within the rain community but what if he actually SAVED British Rail? What other alternatives did he have? Of course, road travel and new motorways gained the lion's share of new capital improvements but this has also mirrored the changing landscape of Britain's economy over the last 50 years. Less reliance on coal, more high technology businesses and services (the kind that don't rely on or need freight rail). I will admit to having NOT read Beeching's report. Please enlighten me if I'm wrong about anything but, in my mind, Beeching did what he had to do. It wasn't pretty, mistakes were definitely made, and it forever changed parts of the country, but for the first time to that point, he looked across all of the British rail network as an entity that needed to make money or at least break even. He simply did what any for-profit company does and that is to concentrate on the parts of the business that earn their keep and improve those experiences, while eliminating duplicate or costly services especially when other choices (other nearby stations or road options) were available. It's not emotional but that's what Beeching did. It's sad for those lines that closed but in many cases the services were not sustainable as they were.
@@OlafProtThrowing money at British Railways wouldn’t be a solution, getting change done was. Eliminating small wagons in favour of bulk container wagons, closing small stations on busy mainlines to enhance more frequent long distance express services, and replacing slow steam with faster diesel and electric traction were initiatives done by BR in the 50s, 60s and 70s. However the problems also laid in the poor management which took on a nostalgic view rather than an enterprising one, which was why steam locos continued to be produced until 1960.
@@MannyAntipov good point. But the Same applies to trams really. They didn't need rid of, they needed updating and investment. But in the uk the car is king. I'm So glad I grew up in a family with no car in 70s/80s. Public transport still just about worked then. You get a bus to rural Areas.
There! I bet you felt good saying that! The reality was that there were many, many branch lines that were losing money each day with dwindling passenger numbers and high running/maintenance costs. More and more people were using cars and less people were using trains.
This corrupt, conniving charlatan and his chum Marples still disgusting me. But if these villains hadn't done it who would have done it a little later on ?
And left some towns isolated to the point that the towns lost industries which resulted in many areas never recovering. Beeching's plan was a short term plan without any foresight of the repercussions further into the future. But hey, this is London calling. Now these days in London, we have been watching the rebuilding of new and old lines complete with strategic bomb shelters in case of any unforeseen critical circumstances for the privileged few.
Before everyone blames Beeching and Marples, remember that the bulk of closures were signed off by the Labour government long after they had both gone.
if triple h hits the pedigree on Dr Beeching, then obviously....hes goona beat dr beeching! Without a doubgm tripe h hit the pedigree on Beeching but as he made the cover and the referee was about to count beeching out, kane appeared, why jr why!
@ I did as I come from West Country. We should not confuse poor enunciation with dialect. People spoke more clearly without the Californication valley speak and Estuary English so common today. “Innit, like, I’m not gonna lie, like totally bro, we literally” spoke far more correctly regardless of regional dialect.
Careful what you wish for isn’t a new thing! How many of those interviewed lost their entire service when they thought Beeching would improve things…oh hang on, most were in the south east and like now, areas outside London and Home Counties are the losers.🙄
Ahhh it was a load of old boys handshakes behind closed doors to benefit the motor industry and deep pockets. They could have invested in the railways like they did the roads. But nah. The bus company in the old film theTitfield Thunderbolt isnt that far off the mark. Why did the railway have to pay? That isnt the point of public services. But look where we are now - we privatised water ffs, WATER. Hindsight is a wonderful thing isnt it, but cutting the railways like they did, and getting rid of trams. Ooooh BIG mistake.
1961: DR BEECHING and the State of BRITISH RAIL | Panorama | Voice of the People | BBC Archive 20.11.24 0812am oh mr beeching... etc probably a patsy for the ducks who are now trynna reintroduce tracks closed down... next up Scarboro back to Whitby...
1961: DR BEECHING and the State of BRITISH RAIL | Panorama | Voice of the People | BBC Archive 20.11.24 0812am oh mr beeching...etc probably a patsy for the ducks who are now trynna reintroduce tracks closed down... next up Scarboro back to Whitby... And then what?
@@onlinefriend3889 Being the chairman of British Railways is same as being the HRH minister. He destroyed the BR so someone could make a fortune. Calling him only a civil servant would be naive.
wasnt a politician, he was a mathematician. hired to file a report, if anyone was insane enough to implement it, thats their problem (Ernest Marples, not earnest at all he was a convicted fraudster and owned a tarmac company)
Well the Minister for Transport was Mr Ernest Marples and he just happened to own a road making business, and it was Mr Marples who instructed Dr Beeching and guess whose road making business made a great deal of money...
Interesting - What book on the early 1960's do you recommend reading.
Rotten gits!
Marples didn’t sign off the majority of closures…Castle did in the following Labour government.
Tony Hancock was paid half what Beeching was paid to do a spoof report on the state of British Rail, Ian Hislop did a documentary about Beeching a few years ago
Now now - it was his wife who owned that stake in the road builders. No conflict of interest at all (lol!)
6:56 no one would expect our road network to be run as a commercial operation that makes a profit. Nowadays the railway companies primarily exist to make profits for their shareholders
Ah, this old chestnut. The annual tax take from motorists is far higher than the budget for road building and maintenance, so the road network essentially does generate a profit. Plus, everyone in the country directly or indirectly uses roads everyday.
"No one would expect our road network to be run as a commercial operation that make a profit "
The previous reply notwithstanding this statement is not correct. There have been a number of proposals to do just that and we do have a number of road/infrastructure assets which are run for profit.
Well no… LNER, Northern, Transpennine, SouthEastern, ScotRail, Transport for Wales, Transpennine, Caledonian Sleeper, Network Rail are all in state hands. With all companies, 100% of your fare is paid directly to HM Treasury and the Dept for Transport pay the companies a management fee. There’s little profit in operating a railway these days.
@@pj100565 exactly this. Careful though, those blinded by ignorance rely on these mythical fat cat shareholders to be their bogeymen.
@@pj100565No profit - really? The ORR highlights net profit margins rose to 41.3% in 2022-23 period, with the remaining (majority) railway operators giving £409.7 million to their shareholders in dividends: Go Ahead, First, Arriva, Trenitalia, Transport UK. Even before the pandemic this was the case.
Remember when we had an integrated transport system? This was done just as steam was being phased out which meant 1 less man per loco, railcars and DMUs were appearing, level crossings were being automated etc, another decade and the whole thing would have been cheaper to run anyway. My local rural station/line closed and is now a cycle path. It's no longer rural and surrounded by housing estates along it's length, total lost opportunity. Why not mothball them like happened in Europe? Just heard a good saying recently, "Britain is a poor country connected to a very rich city"
That is a very astute, and sad, saying.
Mothballing costs money, especially if you want the line quickly available. The Bramley Line is said to have been mothballed but would take months to reinstate physically as the line is overgrown by trees, and all the level crossings have been removed. There was no integrated transport system in the majority of the country. In most places you couldn't use the same ticket on the local buses and trains. Tge multiple units were single-manned in the cab, but locomotive remained two-manned until relatively recently.
My late father worked his way up through the British Railways ranks, starting out as a boiler washer. Just as he qualified as a driver our local locomotive depot was closed down, both local branch lines were shut, and he was made redundant. That was in 1965.
We were all set to emigrate to Rhodesia where he had a job lined up at the Bulawayo loco depot when British Railways took him back on as station staff. He retired in 1989 as a Station Master.
What's your life story got to do with this video. Video is not about you, stop bragging 🙄🙄
@ - My comment has everything to do with with this video because Beeching closed the two branch lines that my father worked on, thus making him redundant. And for ‘bragging’, no, that’s fatherly pride in that he was able to bounce back from Beeching’s life-changing impact upon him.
@@AwesomeAngryBiker He's not bragging about himself, he's sharing an anecdote. You may not appreciate it, but others do.
I don't think I like this man very much and neither did most of the country by the time he'd finished.
He didn’t do anything. Ministers make the decisions.
We also need to bear in mind that 3000 miles of railway were closed BEFORE Dr Beeching even came on to the scene.
It happened to some extent in every western country. The US, germany, france. I guess the big issue in the UK is that thanks to the town & country planning act (ie, green belt) our cities did not grow organically & urbanization did not continue. Go to rural germany & a lot of their villages havent grown (or even maintained) their 1950s size) as everyone has been able to move to cities which have grown.
In the UK, 'green belt hopping' occurs & villages & towns are enlarged 20 miles outside of a provincial city.
Its a lot easier to offer rail services to a highly urbanized population (as in those living in cities >100,000) than it is a disparate population of small towns and large villages, as much of England is.
Unless we undo 70 years of urban planning in the UK, I don't really think large scale expansion of UK rail is feasible. Much better IMO to liberalize & encourage the use of ebikes & escooters & provide if not dedicated networks for them, better foot & cycle paths to accomodate them.
The railways were in a long term decline since 1914. Grouping and nationalisation resulted in identification of duplication which resulted in closures. Plus buses, trams and the motor car resulted in closures before Beeching came on scene.
The woman complaining of the ride quality was on one of the new Blue Pullman trains which sadly were known for their rough ride.
Stop beeching about the quality of British Rail sandwiches and services, they were amazing, worth every penny. Unless there were leaves on the rails.
1961: DR BEECHING and the State of BRITISH RAIL | Panorama | Voice of the People | BBC Archive 20.11.24 0815am trouble is sitting on that filthy carriage yer come out feeling all soiled and rank. same with travelling on bus...
That's a salary of £670,000 in today's money
That says it all....
which is probably what his equivalent earns
@@FlibDokky the highest paid person in network rail earns around £600k and there's tons of other people earning high amounts in the railway too.
Beeching's salary was a massive increase on his predecessor however, and it's only been in the last 30 years or so that railway jobs have been well paid
And in 2024 fare rises are still probably the biggest debated issue on the railway. Some things never change
That lady at the start was right about the bad ride of the Southern Electric EMUs on Commonwealth Bogies.
Much of the 4CEP/BEP fleet had BR1 bogies which rode very badly and is why the bogies were replaced with Commonwealth bogies when the CEP/BEPfleet was refurbished in the 1970s.
Lord Beeching did more damage to the British railways than anyone else.
1961: DR BEECHING and the State of BRITISH RAIL | Panorama | Voice of the People | BBC Archive 0811am 20.11.24 so they keep saying... but i've just watched: 1980: PETER DUNCAN cleaning Big Ben is NERVE-WRACKING | Blue Peter | Classic BBC clips | BBC Archive
You realise that Beeching didn’t close a single station or mile of track? Ministers did, and the bulk were in the Labour government long after Beeching had gone.
@@Bungle-UKthey acted on his report.
….and to their own agendas. He knew that would happen. It’s what ‘consultants’ do. Enable others to make the tough decisions they want to make, evidenced by a loaded report.
@@gaycha6589 nobody forced them too. The following Labour government promised to halt closures but actually delivered the majority of closures, including some lines Beecing recommended keeping open.
A government and minister without any foresight
@@steveday4797 yet it was a different minister in a Labour government that authorised the majority of closures long after Beeching was gone 🤷♂️
Different world. I note in the 'Beeching 2' plans, even cities like Cambridge would have their rail stations removed, but the industrial north looked less affected. I doubt middling civil servants like Beeching had any idea the forced de-industialization of the UK would be initiated within 10 years, grossly changing the economic balance of power within the UK.
@ would you have predicted it?
Beeching actually propeoaed many of these routes to be mothballed not ripped up.
That came about because the government over rode the recommendations and decided to sell the materials and land 💷💷💷
Also if it wasn't for Beeching then there'd be no preserved railways, possibly even no preserved steam and diesel locomotives either.
Really? I find that hard to believe. Are there official documents detailing this? We were still well into the overspill era in 1961, with land values pretty low, even in the South East, building on virginal farmland was still cheap & quite easy. Most of the redundant rail tracks were built on for decades & a 20-30ft wide strip of land doesnt accomodate much. A lot are still empty now, just wasteland
I guess some sidings (March cambridgeshire used to be the biggest sidings in Europe, and now a prison stands on the site) took up serious acreage, but not really serious money at the time.
@Nick-io9uk I've forgotten what I read, but it was a document or similar at the east Anglian railway museum.
I've asked about and most people agree and haven't said otherwise yet
im on 24k a year now
Little did they know of the wrecking ball about to come to the system at this point.
They knew. They profited. We lost out, so did British industry
@@utterlee closing many lines that weren’t needed in the first place is hardly a ‘wrecking ball’.
@@Bungle-UK they closed one third of the network, Bungle. Using very crude data. Many of those lines would be invaluable now. Not all of course, but many.
@ Some would have been but the majority were not to be missed. Closures begin before the First World War, so decades before Beeching. The overwhelming majority of closures were taking out lines that had very little rationale for being there in the first place.
Untold damage.
Interesting stuff. Thanks. Does Beeching start to sound a little manic and speeded-up towards the end of his interview? Looks like someone with something on his mind that's yet to be revealed.
He did more damage then good, all this bs environmental rubbish today Is down to him taking railway away from people and forcing them in to cars to go to work, shop or schools
The pruning does seem too drastic though. Beeching made recommendations.
People weren't forced to go in cars, they prefer their own space instead of sharing with smelly joe public, and cars were becoming more affordable and obtainable.
@@DepakoteMeister Sounds like a you problem.
@onlinefriend3889 Are you Italian?
@@DepakoteMeister Joe Public?
Inflation adjusted Dr Beeching was being paid around £475,000 a year. As someone born in the 1970s he's only ever been a name in history texts as someone who decimated the rail system, fascinating to see the man himself. I do have to say, what are half those accents people have? You simply don't find such unique accents in the south-east these days, we all more or less sound very similar with very little variation. Great vid.
A very clever man who knew his own financial worth and fulfilled the brief given to him by the Transport Minister. Beeching didn't receive a bonus for closing railway lines and wasn't pressured by anyone. He received a high salary, controversial at the time, which was the same he was getting at ICI who gave him 5 years leave of absence( so they wanted him back). It's passed into railway folklore that the cuts which followed his 1963 report were " Breeching cuts " but as someone else has pointed out he didn't close a single mile of track or a single station: it was down to the Tory Transport Minister/ Government who adopted his recommendations and the Labour government which replaced it ( and actually accelerated closures up to the end of the decade).
People were terribly posh in those days. Terribly posh or common as muck.
😂😂😂😂😂😂
A lot of the BR old guard senior management where appalled with the way Beeching spoke to staff. By all accounts he was polite, kind and courteous to all grades and didn’t look down at them.
If DR Beeching had a chance to look back today on what he did, he would have to damit that he and the government he did the report for went too far.
When Beeching was interviewed 10 years late he was asked if he had any regrets. He said he did, and that he should have closed the East Coast main line as the country didn't need an east and west mainline.
@@joegibbs448 the decision were broadly correct at the time, hence closures pushed through by both main political parties. No good looking back with hindsight
@@Bungle-UK "Those are do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it". The railways were built on a unique combination of cheap labour and Victorian ambition, and were destroyed at the stroke of a pen.
@ And all the main lines remain. Why would anyone spend vast amounts of money to run trains carrying one man and his dog?
@@Bungle-UK The south east commuter belt lost relatively few of its lines under Beeching, while other areas like the Scottish borders were gutted of local connections. Stations that survived have seen exponential increase in passengers in many cases, as traffic volume into cities and parking charges have made driving unsustainable.
Everyone boo this man
Many will but he won't be able to hear it.
Boooo! Xx
>railways should be run as profit making venture
has that ever happened ever?
They were when they were built In the 19th century but they didn't face any real competition from other transport modes then.
The railway was the faster cousin of the Canal Network and worked in tandem with it, very successfully for a Decade until Labour decided it was in the country's interest to sell all it's industries to other nations and lean on Europe for everything x
@@kaelaleedaleyYou’re confusing “Labour” with “Thatcher”
@@MannyAntipov Neither Party are totally innocent but take a look at Labour's consistent Pro-Europe/The Free-Market messaging dating back to the 1890's, it'll tell you everything you need to know. All major Industrial sell-offs were instituted by Labour and completed by following Conservative governments once the damage had already been done and I say that as someone from a Coal Mining Community in S. Wales. Don't be blinded by the redwall, look at the facts x
@@kaelaleedaleyTell me which government changed the strike action rules so they could win against coal miners and close the pits without replacement? Tell me which political party sold off utilities, bus companies, the Royal Mail and British Rail? Tell me who reorganised the NHS so they could compete against each other rather than serve in the interests of the public? I’ll wait…
Just remember at a similar time Japan had exactly the same problem as Britain but they invested in their railway. They have one of the best rail systems on planet earth and ours is awful. France also did the same as us cutring the railways and everything kept getting worse. Until they also invested in their railways and they again have one of the best and iconic systems in the world, developing the fastest productiom passenger train in the world.
We can't knock down houses to make way for railways these days, the economists have shafted everything, as opposed to the economics.
...cue the rise of the entitled motorist
@@Onhere6381 so, you don’t like personal freedom? There’s a reason why people chose to buy cars in their millions.
Benching is responsible for death on public transport in rural areas - dor subsequent motor car proliferation and road build maintain cost spirals. And moreover for decline of British primary heavy industry that relied on rail freight.
I am sure he lined pockets well though. Just like they all continue to do.
They are all self serving abhorrent liars and scumbags
The man's recommendations killed entire industries, especially those based outside London. The lace, tin and market garden trade from the South West of England was decimated by the closure of well-used freight and passenger routes. Other parts of the UK suffered in exactly the same way - the forgotten faces that helped to literally put food on our tables. The Labour Government had and still has a real problem with future planning x
£24,000 in 1961 = c.£500,000 in today's money....a very good salary, far above what most CEOs today get whether in public or private sector. I suppose there had to be some compensation for being the most hated man in Britain at that time.....but, the reality is that the railways could not have continued as they were and he had to make some necessary but unpopular decisions
Its so scary how this man has no regard for the good of helping people "someone should have to pay" NO, life and traveling and housing should be free, its not a business to exist, this kind of scummy greedy destructive mindset is what will destroy humanity, we already see it with billionaires and AI
Interesting the interviewer picks up on the fact that around then the tax bracket for 24k a year was mental - was it 80% or more ? meaning that 10k more than 14k went nearly all in taxes. So, basically since it was the government paying him, they got most of it back immediately. If they'd paid him 50k a year it wouldn't have made much real difference.
Can you imagine , running British rail without mobile phones or computer technology.. Nightmare
So, nothing's changed then.
Wow. He was born in 1913 and passed away in 1985. He was 71. Not old at all, really. Must've been the negativity 👀😦....
Sad really, I think to a degree his hands were tied by the fact he wanted a profit/loss organisation but a lot of what he said made sense when you consider the state of the system.
That said, my area (West Norfolk) is flogged by car traffic at times due to the traffic heading to Hunstanton. If that line was in place they could make a fortune by creating a massive, railway, park and ride system even using trams like some European countries do.
It's such a shame we lost so much but economics at the time said it was unsustainable. Now... bring them back and free up the tarmac a bit!!!!
Train tea or coffee has never been technically drinkable.
Oh my god did we all speak like that Then
Beeching himself sounds a lot like then future PM James Callaghan to my ears, although I believe they were both raised along the south coast at similar times.
Yes. Clearly and without any californication
Totally awesome comment dude. Way to go! @@gaycha6589
I have an unpopular opinion...first of all, I generally consider myself a proponent of rail travel and I thoroughly enjoy taking the train under most circumstances. I've been a "train guy" my whole life. However, it is my belief and opinion that a lot of the cuts Beeching proposed (though not all) were necessary, at least with 1960s eyes. Britain did have thousands of miles of competing rail lines, stations serving very few people, and an old, dirty, inefficient infrastructure that would have required a massive influx of new capital to continue or update. How is that a way to run a network? Some lines might have benefitted from light rail or tramways replacing main line trackage but that wasn't always practical or the technology wasn't available in the 1960s and 70s.
Beeching is vilified within the rain community but what if he actually SAVED British Rail? What other alternatives did he have? Of course, road travel and new motorways gained the lion's share of new capital improvements but this has also mirrored the changing landscape of Britain's economy over the last 50 years. Less reliance on coal, more high technology businesses and services (the kind that don't rely on or need freight rail).
I will admit to having NOT read Beeching's report. Please enlighten me if I'm wrong about anything but, in my mind, Beeching did what he had to do. It wasn't pretty, mistakes were definitely made, and it forever changed parts of the country, but for the first time to that point, he looked across all of the British rail network as an entity that needed to make money or at least break even. He simply did what any for-profit company does and that is to concentrate on the parts of the business that earn their keep and improve those experiences, while eliminating duplicate or costly services especially when other choices (other nearby stations or road options) were available. It's not emotional but that's what Beeching did. It's sad for those lines that closed but in many cases the services were not sustainable as they were.
I hear you. But if government had thrown the money at the railways that they subsequently did the roads........?
@@OlafProtThrowing money at British Railways wouldn’t be a solution, getting change done was. Eliminating small wagons in favour of bulk container wagons, closing small stations on busy mainlines to enhance more frequent long distance express services, and replacing slow steam with faster diesel and electric traction were initiatives done by BR in the 50s, 60s and 70s. However the problems also laid in the poor management which took on a nostalgic view rather than an enterprising one, which was why steam locos continued to be produced until 1960.
@@MannyAntipov good point. But the
Same applies to trams really. They didn't need rid of, they needed updating and investment. But in the uk the car is king. I'm So glad I grew up in a family with no car in 70s/80s. Public transport still just about worked then. You get a bus to rural
Areas.
When politicians cared about critical infrastructure.
EDIT: Dirty, greedy fat cat Capitalist.
There! I bet you felt good saying that! The reality was that there were many, many branch lines that were losing money each day with dwindling passenger numbers and high running/maintenance costs. More and more people were using cars and less people were using trains.
People were buying cars available more than ever
To the working class and
Caused more road deaths!
This corrupt, conniving charlatan and his chum Marples still disgusting me. But if these villains hadn't done it who would have done it a little later on ?
If not Beeching or Marples, then very certainly Thatcher.
Long term epic cock up
I wonder how the prices were compared to todays disgusting prices.
One good thing about, dr beeching’s cut back’s is that it has stopped quint little towns being over populated . And kept its charm.
And left some towns isolated to the point that the towns lost industries which resulted in many areas never recovering. Beeching's plan was a short term plan without any foresight of the repercussions further into the future. But hey, this is London calling. Now these days in London, we have been watching the rebuilding of new and old lines complete with strategic bomb shelters in case of any unforeseen critical circumstances for the privileged few.
Love the uppah clawss eccents what what😅😅
Oh my gosh… Check the accents going on! 🤪
Beached whale Beeching
Back when Britain was good & proper with proper well spoken people
Before everyone blames Beeching and Marples, remember that the bulk of closures were signed off by the Labour government long after they had both gone.
Beeching cuts went way too far!
He was hand picked.
if triple h hits the pedigree on Dr Beeching, then obviously....hes goona beat dr beeching!
Without a doubgm tripe h hit the pedigree on Beeching but as he made the cover and the referee was about to count beeching out, kane appeared, why jr why!
Note how they only interviewed passengers with an "appropriate" accent.
No they didn't.
People were simply better spoken back then.
@@gaycha6589guess you didn’t hear localised accents in the day then…
@ I did as I come from West Country. We should not confuse poor enunciation with dialect. People spoke more clearly without the Californication valley speak and Estuary English so common today. “Innit, like, I’m not gonna lie, like totally bro, we literally” spoke far more correctly regardless of regional dialect.
Careful what you wish for isn’t a new thing! How many of those interviewed lost their entire service when they thought Beeching would improve things…oh hang on, most were in the south east and like now, areas outside London and Home Counties are the losers.🙄
What a blasted eeediat man mashup dis country's transport structure 🤦🏿♂️😠🤣🤣
Ahhh it was a load of old boys handshakes behind closed doors to benefit the motor industry and deep pockets. They could have invested in the railways like they did the roads. But nah. The bus company in the old film theTitfield Thunderbolt isnt that far off the mark. Why did the railway have to pay? That isnt the point of public services. But look where we are now - we privatised water ffs, WATER.
Hindsight is a wonderful thing isnt it, but cutting the railways like they did, and getting rid of trams. Ooooh BIG mistake.
1961: DR BEECHING and the State of BRITISH RAIL | Panorama | Voice of the People | BBC Archive 20.11.24 0812am oh mr beeching... etc probably a patsy for the ducks who are now trynna reintroduce tracks closed down... next up Scarboro back to Whitby...
1961: DR BEECHING and the State of BRITISH RAIL | Panorama | Voice of the People | BBC Archive 20.11.24 0812am oh mr beeching...etc probably a patsy for the ducks who are now trynna reintroduce tracks closed down... next up Scarboro back to Whitby...
And then what?
Beeching is probably one of the worst politicians ever. Destroying the lines was lunatic.
He wasn't a politician.
@@onlinefriend3889 Being the chairman of British Railways is same as being the HRH minister. He destroyed the BR so someone could make a fortune. Calling him only a civil servant would be naive.
@@PP266 No it isn't. He wasn't elected to the position.
@@onlinefriend3889 Yes Sir Humphrey.
How are dealing in the rounds of the hell?
Warm enough?
wasnt a politician, he was a mathematician. hired to file a report, if anyone was insane enough to implement it, thats their problem (Ernest Marples, not earnest at all he was a convicted fraudster and owned a tarmac company)
I just love all the comments from idiotic rail fans who haven’t got a clue about facts.
the facts are grim and the fans are naive. not much to be said
How posh is the woman at 3:10? " We have to get up at a fantastic aar"😊