Editing Beeching cuts (section)

==The closures==
[[File:Prospect Tunnel.jpg|thumb|Prospect Tunnel lay on the [[Harrogate to Church Fenton Line]], one of the first lines to be closed]]

The first report was accepted by the Conservative government of the day, which argued that many services could be provided more effectively by buses.<ref name=times>{{cite news |work=The Times |title=Beeching Report Proposes Closing Nearly a Third of Britain's 7,000 Railway Stations |date=28 March 1963 |issue=55661 |page=8 |url=https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/CS134440060/TTDA?u=kccl&sid=bookmark-TTDA&xid=722ec50c}}</ref> Most recommendations were subsequently taken forward by the Labour government elected in 1964, but many of the proposed closures sparked protests from communities that would lose their trains, a number of which (especially rural communities) had no other public transport.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.stourline.co.uk/page3.htm |title=All stations on the Stour Line are Doomed – Councils to lead massive protest}}</ref>{{better source needed|date=January 2024}}

Line closures had been running at about {{convert|150|to|300|mi}} per year between 1950 and 1961. They peaked at {{convert|1,000|mi}} in 1964 and came to a virtual halt by the early 1970s.{{sfn|Gourvish|1986|p=}}{{verification failed|date=January 2024}} One of the last major closures was the 98-mile (158&nbsp;km) [[Waverley Route]] between [[Carlisle railway station|Carlisle]], [[Hawick railway station|Hawick]] and [[Edinburgh Waverley railway station|Edinburgh]] in 1969; the reopening of a {{convert|35|mi|adj=on}} section of this line was approved in 2006 and passenger services resumed in September 2015.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-south-scotland-29505220 |title=Borders to Edinburgh railway: Track laying gets under way |work=BBC News |publisher=BBC |date=9 October 2014 |access-date=12 October 2014}}</ref>

Holiday and coastal resorts were severely affected by the closures. The report recommended closing almost all services along the coasts of north Devon, Cornwall and East Anglia aside from Norwich to Great Yarmouth. All services on the [[Isle of Wight]] were recommended for closure, as were all branch lines in the [[Lake District]]. One of the most significant closures was the [[Great Central Main Line]] from [[Marylebone station|London Marylebone]] to Leicester and Sheffield.<ref name=times/>

Not all the recommended closures were implemented. Reprieved lines include:
* Lines through the [[Scottish Highlands]], such as the [[Far North Line]], were kept open, in part because of pressure from the powerful Highland lobby.{{sfn|White|1986|p=}}{{page needed|date=June 2023}}
* The [[Heart of Wales line|Central Wales Line]] was said to have been kept open because it passed through so many [[marginal constituency|marginal constituencies]] that no-one dared to close it.{{sfn|White|1986|p=}}{{page needed|date=June 2023}}{{sfn|Henshaw|1994|p=}}{{page needed|date=June 2023}}
* The [[Tamar Valley Line]], between [[Gunnislake railway station|Gunnislake]] and [[Plymouth railway station|Plymouth]], was kept open because the local road network was poor, with no direct route from the towns served to Plymouth.<ref>{{cite book|title=1963: That Was the Year That Was|first=Andrew|last=Cook|publisher=The History Press|page=35|year=2013|isbn=978-0-752-49231-5}}</ref>
* The [[Marshlink line]] between [[Ashford International railway station|Ashford]] and [[Hastings railway station|Hastings]] remained open because of problems running a replacement bus service with the existing network.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/written-answers/1970/nov/26/rye-ashford-area-public-transport#S5CV0807P0_19701126_CWA_206|title=Rye-Ashford Area (Public Transport)|work=[[Hansard|Parliamentary Debates (Hansard)]]|date=26 November 1970|access-date=25 August 2016}}</ref>
* Other routes (or parts of routes) planned for closure that survived include the [[Settle–Carlisle line|Settle-Carlisle line]], [[East Suffolk line|Ipswich–Lowestoft]], the [[Hope Valley line]], the [[Buxton line]],<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.railengineer.uk/2013/03/21/derailed-the-complicity-dividend/ |title=Rail Engineer article – Derailed: The complicity dividend |access-date=4 August 2015 |archive-date=16 November 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181116173648/http://www.railengineer.uk/2013/03/21/derailed-the-complicity-dividend/ |url-status=dead }}</ref> the Avocet line, Ayr–Stranraer, Glasgow–Kilmarnock, Glasgow–Edinburgh via Shotts, Barrow–Whitehaven,  Middlesbrough–Whitby, York–Harrogate, Leeds/Bradford–Ilkley, Nottingham–Lincoln, Boston–Skegness, Birkenhead–Wrexham, Liverpool–Southport (and other Merseyside commuter routes), Bury-Manchester, Leicester–Peterborough, [[St Ives Bay Line|St Erth–St Ives]], and [[Island Line, Isle of Wight|Ryde–Shanklin]].

The Beeching Report was intended to be the first stage in the rail network's contraction.{{sfn|Loft|2013|p=}}{{page needed|date=June 2023}} As a result, some lines it had not recommended for closure were subsequently shut down, such as the [[Woodhead line]] between Manchester and Sheffield in 1981, after the decline of the freight traffic (mostly coal) on which it had relied.{{sfn|Haywood|2016|pp=210–251}} Many surviving lines were rationalised, including reduction to single track and consolidation of signals.{{sfn|DfT|2007|p=69}} Most of the Oxford–Cambridge [[Varsity Line]] closed despite its strategic location serving [[Milton Keynes]], Britain's largest "new town".<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-beds-bucks-herts-44979593|title=East West Rail link second phase plans submitted|work=BBC News|date=27 July 2018|access-date=22 October 2019}}</ref> Kinross-shire, and Fife especially, suffered closures not included in the Report, including the main line from Edinburgh to Perth. [[King's Lynn]] was to have remained at the centre of routes towards [[Norwich]], [[Hunstanton]] and [[Wisbech]], all of which closed.

With a few exceptions, after the early 1970s proposals to close other lines were met with vociferous public opposition and were shelved.{{Citation needed|date=February 2021}}