According to Ian Hislop...

[MrMark]

...there are now over 100 train heritage steam lines operating in the UK today. Take that, Beeching!

[EternalOptimist]

...there are now over 100 train heritage steam lines operating in the UK today. Take that, Beeching!

Its funny that.

Beeching and that guy Malthus always get a beating from lefty lecturers etc
I never understood why, and I was always too scared to ask, or even mention it. I still am

[BrilloPad]

Any here been on all of them?

[Purple Dalek]

Beeching didn't cut enough. He expected that his report would be seen in a holistic way, which was rather naive. If he had taken a more realistic view he would have recommended cutting far more, and in this way it would have saved more. Wasn't it something like 40 year after the recommendation they started installing high speed switches, and that was because the French insisted on them as part of the chunnel deal. Talk about foot dragging...

[Gonzo]

Any here been on all of them?

Are you suggesting that any of us are sad anorak-wearing, clipboard-carrying nerds?



Oh, hang on a minute

[MrMark]

Its funny that.

Beeching and that guy Malthus always get a beating from lefty lecturers etc
I never understood why, and I was always too scared to ask, or even mention it. I still am

Funny though, I've met plenty of folk who hold right-wing views on other things, but would have supported pouring money into the old train network. Maybe it's nostalgia, but the sight of a steam train going down the an old countryside track, is something very beautiful. Perhaps we should have just converted all the south-west into a giant theme park (keeping all the old train lines).

[NickFitz]

Beeching didn't cut enough. He expected that his report would be seen in a holistic way, which was rather naive. If he had taken a more realistic view he would have recommended cutting far more, and in this way it would have saved more. Wasn't it something like 40 year after the recommendation they started installing high speed switches, and that was because the French insisted on them as part of the chunnel deal. Talk about foot dragging...

According to one of the experts Hislop had on the programme, about one-third of the lines Beeching cut would be profitable if still in operation today.

[Purple Dalek]

According to one of the experts Hislop had on the programme, about one-third of the lines Beeching cut would be profitable if still in operation today.

Yes, if you are (very) imaginative with the concept of what profitable means in the context of the British railway system.

[minestrone]

I wish the gimp could come back from the grave and sort out the bawsacks that work on the Glasgow-Edinburgh line.

[VectraMan]

According to one of the experts Hislop had on the programme, about one-third of the lines Beeching cut would be profitable if still in operation today.

Seems unlikely. In Beeching's day, car ownership was much lower, so the necessity for public transport linking villages and small towns was much greater.