British Railway Infrastructure Since 1970

An Historical Overview

Paul D. Shannon

• Editorial: Pen & Sword Transport
• Año: 2019
• ISBN:
  9781526734808
• Categoría: Technology & Engineering
• Categoría: Rail Transportation

With words and pictures, a railway enthusiast examines the huge changes in the British railway network over a 50-year period. Looking at trains in Great Britain from 1970 to 2020, we see how steam-age infrastructure has gradually given way to a streamlined modern railway. The beginning of the period saw the final stages of the Beeching cuts, with the closure of some rural branches and lesser-used stations. Since the 1980s, the tide has turned, and numerous lines and stations have joined or rejoined the network. As for freight, we see how the complex operations of the 20th century have been replaced by a far smaller number of specialized terminals, while marshalling yards in the traditional sense have all but disappeared. And the long process of updating our railway signaling has continued apace, even though some semaphore gems have managed to survive into the 21st century. "This book looks at all the various changes that have taken place in Britain's railways since 1970.... Such things as freight, stations closing and opening, or re-opening, locomotive depots and signaling are all covered in detail. What makes this book so good is the number of photographs supplied by the author ranging from back in the 1970s to the present. This is a book worth having if you are interested in the infrastructure of Britain's railways. Beautifully illustrated." —Branch Line Britain "An interesting and recommended work." —West Somerset Railway Association

CHAPTER 1

THE CHANGING NETWORK

Between 1960 and 1970, the route length covered by British Railways (British Rail from 1965) shrank from just over 18,000 miles to just under 12,000 miles. The cuts hit hardest during the three years after publication of the first Beeching Report; a total of 2,300 miles were chopped from the network in 1964-66. By contrast, the years after 1970 were relatively quiet. The railway still totalled nearly 11,000 miles in 1980 and just under 10,000 miles in 2015.

What those figures do not show is the changing nature of route mileage. Until the 1970s, it was common for secondary lines to lose their passenger service but remain open for freight, either for a specific industry such as a colliery or for general traffic such as goods for export. In some parts of the country such as the South Wales valleys and much of Nottinghamshire, there were more freight-only lines than passenger lines.

Had the recommendations of the 1963 Beeching Report been implemented in full, then the whole of East Lincolnshire south of Grimsby and east of Lincoln would have been left devoid of railways. As it turned out, most of the lines closed in October 1970, but BR retained the meandering route from Grantham to Boston and Skegness, which is still in operation today. The junction station at Firsby was one of the 1970s casualties as it lay on the main line to Grimsby. Standing at the northbound platform in 1970 is a Class 105 DMU in the unusual livery of rail blue with small yellow warning panel. A Class 114 DMU waits in the siding beyond the level crossing. (Harry Luff/Online Transport Archive)

The Willoughby-Mablethorpe branch succumbed in October 1970 along with the demise of the main line to Grimsby. Two Class 114 units are pictured at Willoughby during its final year of operation. The station had retained its full track layout to the end, with a generous double junction linking the main line with the Mablethorpe branch and even a run round loop for the side platform. The goods yard, however, had closed in 1966. (Harry Luff/Online Transport Archive)

The border town of Oswestry had lost its passenger services in 1966, but the goods yard remained open until December 1971 and ballast trains from Blodwell continued to pass through the site until 1989. The photograph dated September 1971 hints at the onetime importance of Oswestry as a railway centre, with the former Cambrian Railways headquarters still standing on the northbound platform. Out of sight beyond the station lay the former Cambrian Railways locomotive and wagon works. The semaphore signals had been removed after the closure of Oswestry South box in November 1970. (Marcus Eavis/Online Transport Archive)

Typical of the dozens of small lines that owed their existence to specific industries, the Brymbo branch in North Wales remained busy with traffic between Croes Newydd yard and Brymbo steelworks throughout the 1970s. Class 24 5035 passes Brymbo East box with empty hoppers in this scene from June 1973. By the end of the decade, the branch service was down to two trains a day and further reductions in business would make its retention unviable. It closed in October 1982. The steelworks itself survived until 1990. (R.W.A. Jones/Online Transport Archive)

Having unsurprisingly been targeted for closure in the 1963 Beeching Report, the Alston branch then survived for more than a decade until the local road network had been improved to support a replacement bus service. The branch eventually closed in May 1976, having been worked as a long siding from Haltwhistle in its later years. A Class 108 DMU is pictured at the terminus on 20 March 1976. Part of the branch trackbed has subsequently returned to railway use thanks to the two-foot gauge South Tynedale Railway, which runs between Alston and Slaggyford. (Paul Shannon)

London’s City Widened Lines enabled main line trains from the Midland and Great Northern commuter routes to reach Moorgate in the heart of the city. Trains ran in the peak hours only and were a mixture of DMUs and rakes of hauled non-corridor stock hauled by Class 31s. One of the latter workings calls at Farringdon in September 1976. The Great Northern trains were withdrawn two months later, while those from the Midland continued until 1979, when the line was severed beyond Farringdon to allow the construction of Thameslink. (Marcus Eavis/Online Transport Archive)

The two-mile line from Dalston Junction into London Broad Street was once busy enough to justify six tracks, four of which remained in use into the 1970s. By that time, the line was used mainly by the 20-minute interval electric service to Richmond, plus peak hour trains to Watford Junction and various stations on the Great Northern line via Finsbury Park. A Class 116 DMU calls at Dalston Junction on a Great Northern service in February 1977. The line through Dalston Junction closed in 1986 when the last peak hour trains to Watford were withdrawn, the Richmond service having already been diverted away in the previous year. However, tracks were later relaid on this alignment as part of the East London line extension. (Marcus Eavis/Online Transport Archive)

Wombwell marked the start of the seven-mile Worsborough incline, which included a three-mile stretch with an average gradient of 1 in 40. The line was electrified in the 1950s as part of the Woodhead scheme. Loaded trains generally required a pair of Class 76 bankers from Wombwell to West Silkstone. Passing Wombwell Main Junction box on 15 April 1980 are 76036 and 76039 with a diverted mixed freight from Tinsley to Dewsnap. The Worsborough incline closed along with the Woodhead route on 20 July 1981 and Wombwell Main Junction box was abolished in February 1982, leaving the remaining route through Wombwell open for a little longer to serve Barrow colliery. (Paul Shannon)

Both Lincoln’s passenger stations – Central and St Marks – suffered from the inconvenience of a city centre level crossing. The unusual track layout at St Marks with two dead-end sidings between the through lines is pictured on 5 June 1980, as a three-car Class 120 DMU stands at the eastbound platform on a service from Nottingham. BR closed St Marks and its level crossing in May 1985 after completing an 80-metre curve to connect the Nottingham line with the former Lincoln avoiding line, allowing Nottingham trains to call at Lin...