This was the last but one edition of the British Railways Western Region Magazine, and it demonstrated the limitations of a house magazine which was essentially the voice of British Railways management.
‘The Reshaping of British Railways’ had been published by the British Railways Board under its Chairman Dr Beeching on 27 March, but it had appeared too late for the April editions of the official Magazines.
Beeching recommended the closure of more than 2000 stations and 8000km of route and his conclusions aroused a storm of protest, but very little of the criticism found its way into the BR magazines, which were also publications of the BR Board.
The WR Magazine commented mildly that ‘If … we had been free to do more promptly the things that needed to be done … without the time-consuming procedures that were laid down, the railway system could possibly already have reached a size not so very different from what is now proposed.’
However, this edition did include a summary of Press comments. The Magazine said the Beeching report had generally received ‘a favourable reception’.
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