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Stephen Furley · December 28th 09, 04:36 PM posted to uk.transport.london

On 27/12/09 18:24, in article ,
" wrote:

Were any of the London closures that actually happened really Beeching's?
I know he had it in for the North London but it didn't close, quite the
contrary in the long run. The Ally Pally passenger service went in 1956.
Were even Palace Gates and Belmont Beeching closures? The Turkey St loop
reopened in his time.

I think Palace Gates went in '63, so it was probably planned pre-Beeching.
Belmont was later I think '64?

The answer in most cases as to why lines were closed is that people weren't
using them, and this was nothing new, certainly nothing to do with Beeching.
From early in the 20th century many local lines in London had seen drastic
decline due to competition from electric trams, and later buses. I think
it's one of Jim Connor's books which gives some figures, and it's really
dramatic. I can't remember the details now.

Some lines closed during the first war and were never re-opened, Greenwich
Park and what is now Thameslink for example. The London & Blackwall closed
during the General Strike, and never re-opened I believe. Ok, part of the
Greenwich Park branch did re-open later, as did the Snow Hill tunnel, though
not the line from it towards Moorgate did re-open after a very long break,
as did part of the L&B for the DLR. The L&SWR route to Richmond via
Shepherds Bush also never re-opened, doubtless due to competition. Indeed,
the Shepherds Bush area has probably seen more closed stations than anywhere
else in London.

Other lines closed during the second war, West London lost almost all of its
passenger service of course, and Dalston Junction to Poplar never reopened.

Other lines lost out to competition from Underground lines, Stanmore
Village, both Uxbridge lines and Rickmansworth Church Street being obvious
ones.

People didn't want to travel on slow, dirty steam trains when they could use
new fast clean electric trains and trams. Note how few electrified lines
have closed in London. Crystal Palace was one of course, how it kept going
for 18 years after the Palace burned down, I don't know. I think it carried
some coal which may have kept it alive for a while.

Axexandra Palace pretty much died with the rest of the Northern Heights
scheme, and the Palace itself was in serious decline by that time.

Broad Street was probably closed mainly because the land it stood on was too
valuable, though retaining a smaller station there might have been
justified. It was also convenient to be able to divert the existing North
London service when they wanted to re=open the line through Hackney. This
also killed the last of the service via Lea Bridge, the remains of what had
been the North Woolwich - Palace Gates service, when the North Woolwich
branch was joined to the North London.

There's not a great deal more in London that has closed, is there? Elmers
End to Selsdon, again competition, and a few line lines in the East End,
around the docks and Beckton gas works, wartime damage, and then declining
industry.

Lastly, too many lines and stations in London were built in the first place
by the various competing companies.

Very little to do with Beeching at all, and most of it not in his time.