Fifty years on

Fifty years have passed since Beeching´s condemning report led to the closure of a third of Britain´s railways. It is instructive to consider what a similar report might say today, although that is somewhat difficult as the railways are booming rather than declining. There is, though, a key similarity. The railways are still losing money, though nowadays this subsidy is built into the system, rather than a British Railways Board having to go cap in hand to the government.