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10 February 2023 / William Gibson
Issue: 8012 / Categories: Features , Public
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Reflections on Beeching: beware the axeman

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Did Richard Beeching deserve the public vitriol he attracted for the closure of the railways? William Gibson examines the impact of the swingeing 1960s cuts

What do the Transport Act 1962 (effective January 1963) and the Courts Act 1971 have in common? Two things: they were both intended to make improvements by cutting, and the axeman in each case was Richard Beeching.

Beeching in charge

A scientist employed by Imperial Chemical Industries (ICI), he was seconded to the Civil Service for five years from June 1961 to be first chairman of the newly created British Railways Board, following abolition of the British Transport Commission (BTC). His proposed employment was disclosed to Parliament in March 1961 by the Minister of Transport, Ernest Marples. The announcement that he was to be paid a salary of £24,000 (about £470,000 today), which was more than twice as much as the outgoing chairman of the BTC, sparked an angry and extensive debate in the House. Labour opposition members en masse condemned his lack of knowledge

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