BR 1961 – NR 2009
Saturday, October 17 2009
Britain’s Railways 1961 (pre-Beeching. Map British Railways.
(Click to see full-size. Map retrieved via Joyce’s World of Transport Eclectica.)
Prompted by the map of the future Polish Rail network on BTWT, I thought it would be interesting to remember what happened to Britain’s Railways. Most of the closures took place in less than 20 years.
There are some interesting comments from transport professionals on the rail section of Tony Gossling’s website – Tearing up the Tracks.
Britain’s Railway Network 2009. Map ©Network Rail.
(Click to download full-size map as pdf file from National Rail Enquiries.)
Remarkable how sweeping those closures were, and how arbitrary: leaving Wales with effectively three unconnected rail systems, for example. I doubt whether that would have been allowed by the Welsh Assembly in Cardiff.