Date: 10/03/2012

It has been more than 50 years since Dr Richard Beeching recommended the closure of hundreds of branch lines in his report The Reshaping of British Railways. More than 4,000 miles of railway and 3,000 stations were closed in the decade following the report. But now disused stations and lines could be brought back into life as the network adapts to shifts in the population over the last 50 years.

External links

Miles of rail line could be re-opened

Telegraph

Miles of railway line shut under the Beeching Axe could be reopened under an overhaul of the rail industry.

Related images

A Thumper DEMU arriving at a snowy Uckfield in 1974. [The original Lewes & Uckfield station was replaced by new station in 1991.]
Location: Uckfield
Company: Lewes and Uckfield Railway
//1974 Ian Dinmore

The train that operates the branch line between Maidenhead on the GW main line and Marlow, Bucks (via a reversal at Bourne End) is affectionately known as The Marlow Donkey and has a local pub named after it. While the origins are unclear, the term has been in use since the earliest days of steam haulage on the line. The scene shows a recently arrived Donkey at the Marlow terminus in 1976.
Location: Marlow
Company: Great Marlow Railway
//1976 Ian Dinmore