Richard Beeching, Baron Beeching

Who was Richard Beeching, Baron Beeching?

Richard Beeching, Baron Beeching, commonly known as Dr Beeching, was chairman of British Railways and a physicist and engineer. He became a household name in Britain in the early 1960s for his report "The Reshaping of British Railways", commonly referred to as "The Beeching Report", which led to far-reaching changes in the railway network, popularly known as the Beeching Axe.

As a result of the report, just over 4,000 route miles were cut on cost and efficiency grounds, leaving Britain with 13,721 miles of railway lines in 1966. A further 2,000 miles were lost by the end of the 1960s.