|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Document Summary
|
Railway Finances - Report of a Committee chaired by Sir David Serpell KCB CMG OBE
 2.7Mb 
|
|
|
|
|
|
Sample Quote
|
"We were appointed...to examine the finances of the railway and associated operations, in the light of all relevant considerations, and to report on options for alternative policies, and their related objectives, design to secure improved financial results in an efficiently run railway in Great Britain over the next 20 years."
|
|
|
Archivist's Summary
|
The Serpell report was essentially an attempted re-run of Beeching-style closures of secondary routes. Unlike the first attempt, there were fewer obvious candidates for closure; Serpell ran into a political trap with the infamous 'table A', which showed all but a few ex-London mainlines closed, and left Glasgow and Edinburgh as the northern outposts of the network.
This option was seized upon by the report's opponents, and they successfully killed the whole exercise. The report did, however, set the tone for the next few years, with BR cutting costs and attempting to close lines by stealth.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Featured
Document
|
|
|
|
|
|
Just Arrived
|
|
|
|
|
|
Latest Rail News
from BBC News
|
|
|
|
|
The Railways Archive