Richard Beeching
Richard Beeching, Baron Beeching (21 April 1913 - 23 March 1985) (more commonly known as Dr Beeching), was a British physicist and engineer, and chairman of British Railways. Beeching became infamous in Britain in the early 1960s for his role in masterminding the Beeching Axe railway closures of that decade.
Beeching was born in Maidstone, Kent, the second of four brothers. He was educated at Maidstone Grammar School and gained a 1st class honours degree in Physics at Imperial College London, followed by a research Ph.D.
In 1938 he married Ella Tiley, to whom he remained married for the rest of his life. At the age of 33, he became Deputy Chief Engineer of the Armament Design Department of the Ministry of Supply.
In 1948 he joined the giant chemical firm ICI, and in 1957 he was appointed technical director of the board.
He was invited in 1960 by the Government to become a member of an Advisory Group on the state of British transport, the Stedeford Committee. The Chairman of the Committee was Sir Ivan Stedeford and the two men clashed on a number of issues connected with Beeching's proposal to drastically prune Britain's rail infrastructure. In spite of questions being asked in Parliament, Sir Ivan's report was never published. A set of proposals for the future of the railways that came to be known as the "Beeching Plan" was adopted by the Government, resulting in the closure of a third of the rail network and the scrapping of a third of a million freight wagons, much as Sir Ivan had forseen and fought against. See Gourvish (link below)
In 1961 he was appointed chairman of the British Railways Board. At that time the Government was seeking outside talent and fresh blood to sort out the huge problems of the railway system, i.e., an expert in an outside field, with little or no experience in railway management.
During his tenure, Beeching became a hugely controversial figure when he recommended a massive programme of railway closures to cut the cost of running the railway system. He was also responsible for modernising many aspects of the railway system.
The intentions of the Beeching Report were to remove unprofitable branch lines while keeping the highly profitable main lines, using the money saved to update the system and speed the progress of the Modernisation Plan. Unfortunately, the Treasury decided that since the money was no longer needed for the support of branch lines, it could be spent by other departments, making the plans futile. Another mistake in the plans was the assumption that if a branch line closed, passengers would drive to the nearest railhead and still use the railway for the rest of their journey. Instead, they found it more convenient to drive the entire journey, costing British Rail (as it became) far more in the long term.
Beeching resigned in 1965 after recommendations in one of his reports were rejected by the government. He re-joined ICI, where he rose to become Deputy Chairman (1966-68). In 1965 he was made a Life Peer.
The effect of the Beeching Axe on a small station was the subject of Oh, Doctor Beeching!, a television sitcom by David Croft and Richard Spendlove, from 1995 to 1997. The theme song ran:
- "Oh! Dr. Beeching, what have you done?
- There once were lots of trains to catch but soon there will be none.
- I'll have to buy a bike as I can't afford a car.
- Oh! Dr. Beeching! What a naughty man you are!"
(Note: This is based on the once-well-known and railway-related ditty
- "Oh! Mr porter, what can I do!
- I wanted to go to Birmingham and they took me on to Crewe.
- Take me back to London as quickly as you can
- Oh Mr porter what a silly (girl) I am!"
Trivia
There is a pub called Lord Beechings at the end of the Cambrian Railway at Aberystwyth, which until its refurbishment by S_A_Brains was decorated with various railway memorabilia, in particular regarding the Aberystwyth - London and Aberystwyth - Carmarthen service which he axed.