This is the story of how around 150 pre-Grouping railways of Britain evolved from their 'Golden Age' in the heady Edwardian era to become the less popular nationalised British Railways. In 1961 it fell to Dr Richard Beeching, then Chairman of the British Railways Board, to wield his axe in order to achieve the Government's ambition of turning the railways back into profit. With the use of extensive and rare archive footage, this series of four programmes tells the story of his dramatic ‘cuts’ and examines Beeching's legacy as we look back over the six decades since his infamous report ‘The Reshaping of British Railways’ was published.
 
DISC 1: BEFORE BEECHING
 
To start our journey, we follow the path of Britain's railways from the pre- Grouping of the Edwardian era when steam was king, through to Beeching's appointment as Chairman of the British Railways Board in 1961. During that time two World Wars had drastically changed Britain and its railways had moved from a Golden Age to an industry experiencing heavy annual losses.
 
PUBLISHED   JUNE 2025