Its been a while since I posted, but heres how it goes
Beeching was the saviour of the railways. Misty eyed revisionism and romance have no place in the operation, and management of a customer focused, profitable, effective transport organisation. I am reviled for saying what he did was correct. There were two phases, first came the cutbacks, next the investment proposals. Well....the tree needed pruning, and there was no choice. It was change or die.
How many trainspotters have actually physically read the Beddy and Beeching reports? I read them as a student for a college assignment, and they were an excellent piece of analysis, still relevant in some ways today.
As for the likes of the Dundrum line....when it closed, it was hardly effective. There were some closures that in hindsight were mistakes.
1. Harcourt Street line.
2. Navan line (well...Navan in 1960's had only 5,000 population anyway)
3. Portadown-Derry (Derry Road) (not directly relevant to Railusers.ie, but WOULD be in terms of a cross border service HAD it survived)
4. A few others in Northern Ireland.
Otherwise, in Ireland, its pretty much the network needed for the population served today
|