WITH railways currently in the news amid plans to re-nationalise the railway system after being privatised in the 1990s, it is perhaps sometimes forgotten that we’ve been here before.

After World War II, the railway system was decimated and run into the ground amid the effort it put in to help beat the Axis powers.

The ‘big four’ railway operators were virtually bankrupt after the war, and required assistance to rebuild.

This led to the Transport Act of 1947, which nationalised virtually all forms of transport, leading to the formation of British Railways.

However, despite the attempts of the Modernisation plan of 1955, by the early 1960’s, British Railways was making significant losses, leading to the Conservative government of the day instructing Dr Richard Beeching, the chair of BR to produce a report, commonly known as the ‘Beeching Axe’.

It resulted in the decimation of the railway network, with scenes like these consigned to the sands of time.