Beeching cuts map: Which railway lines closed after the report?

RAIL services axed as part of a costing-cutting initiative named after British Rail chief Dr Richard Beeching who proposed it could now be reinstated. 

Here we look at how what became known as the Beeching cuts significantly reduced the UK rail network.

What were the Beeching cuts?

Dr Richard Beeching sparked uproar in the 1960s when he closed 4,500 miles of railway line and 2,128 stations to save money.

This was a third of the track network and 55 per cent of stations.

British Rail was losing £140million a year when Dr Beeching took over as a chairman of the British Transport Commission.

His solution, announced in 1963, was to "make railways pay" and led to 67,000 British Rail job cuts.

The cuts came amid a rapid growth in car ownership and the opening of the UK’s first motorways.

Which railway lines and stations were axed?

Thousands of stations and hundreds of branch lines were closed between 1964 and 1970 after a report by Dr Beeching.

They included:

• Aberdeen to Fraserburgh
• Aberystwyth to Carmarthen
• Ashington-Blyth-Tyne line to Northumberland
• Ashington to Newcastle
• Bangor to Amlwch 
• Barry to Bridgend 
• Bere Alson to Tavistock
• Bristol to Portishead 
• Bristol to Hensbury
• Colne to Skipton line
• Dumfries to Stranraer
• Edinburgh to Carlisle 
• Edinburgh to Tweedbank
• Exeter to Okehampton 
• Fleetwood to Poulton-le-Fylde
• Keswick to Penrith 
• Keswick to Workington 
• Nottingham to London Marylebone  
• Oxford to Cambridge
• Perth to Kinnaber
• Sheffield to London Marylebone 
• Southampton to Dorchester

Some of the biggest stations to close

• Corby 
• Cannock
• Dudley
• Dunstable
• Fleetwood
• Keswick
• Yeovil

Which railway lines will reopen and when? 

Two rail lines are to reopen 50 years after they were shut during the Beeching cuts, it was announced on January 28, 2020.

One is the Ashington-Blyth-Tyne line in Northumberland which will reopen thanks to a £500m funding boost.

The Fleetwood line in Lancashire will also reopen.

Meanwhile communities are being invited to pitch other rail restoration proposals. Cash is also being provided for another round of the New Stations Fund — which has already seen ten brand new stations in England and Wales.

Who was Lord Beeching?

Dr Richard Beeching was the much hated Chairman of the British Railways Board who wielded his axe.

He produced a report recommended cutting about a third of the network - 5,000 miles of track.

This included hundreds of branch lines, 2,363 stations and tens of thousands of jobs.

Critics have accused Beeching of ignoring the social consequences of his plans, with communities cut off.

He died in 1985 aged 71.