British Railways Rise Like the Phoenix

In rail news nothing is surprising, the irony of the British railway system is the massive u-turn experienced during its incredible history. From being the birth place of trains and producing an extensive development of railway lines across the country Britain was also the first country to make the controversial decision that roads would be the dominant mode of transport for the future.

By making this decision in the fifties and sixties the resulting outcome was the passing of the Beeching Act which obliterated thousands of miles of rail track and numerous railway stations.

The Beeching Act had a massive impact on Britain and its attitude toward travel. Roads become the first and foremost means of private, public and commercial transport. The superseding Governments also threw weight behind road development, investing billions of pounds into the road infrastructure.

Now over forty years after the railway cull the attitude to rail transport has changed again. With road fuel costs on a dramatic increase and with a demand for greener modes of transport rail is seeing a re-emmergence on a grand scale. High speed rail is sited as the transport of the future and many of the rail lines closed during the Beeching Act are being re-opened.