50th ANNIVERSARY OF THE BEECHING REPORT

That this House records that 50 years ago, Dr Richard Beeching, as Chairman of British Railways, presented a report on the future of the UK railway network which was accepted by the Conservative Government; recalls that in March 1963 Dr Beeching announced the closure of 2,128 stations, the scrapping of 8,000 railway coaches, the cutting of 67,000 staff and the axing of branch lines to many destinations throughout the country; notes that 50 years later the UK now has a truncated rail network which provides poor service to commuters at exorbitant prices while the amount of payments and subsidies paid by the taxpayer to the private train operators since privatisation far exceeds, proportionally, the subsidies that were paid to British Rail prior to privatisation; believes therefore that privatisation of the railways has brought no benefit to taxpayers or commuters; and, therefore, further believes that there is a compelling case for bringing the whole railway system under a different form of ownership and operation.