tbtc
Veteran Member
One of the regular criticisms of privatisation I see on here is the fact that there haven't been many new railways (by which people generally mean "there haven't been enough re-opened old railways" - even though the decisions on such long term infrastructure projects are obviously dependent upon the Government rather than something we'd expect TOCs to do).
It got me thinking of how many new lines were built between the commencement of the "big four" in January 1923 and the mid 1990s privatisation of British Rail.
There were a few examples of re-opened lines under BR (e.g. Mansfield), but I'm struggling to think of many brand new lines (a short bit of diversion around Penmanshiel/Grantshouse in the early 1970s and around Selby in the early 1980s being two examples I am familiar with, having grown up near the ECML), but how many lines did the "big four" and British Rail build in around seventy five years?
It got me thinking of how many new lines were built between the commencement of the "big four" in January 1923 and the mid 1990s privatisation of British Rail.
There were a few examples of re-opened lines under BR (e.g. Mansfield), but I'm struggling to think of many brand new lines (a short bit of diversion around Penmanshiel/Grantshouse in the early 1970s and around Selby in the early 1980s being two examples I am familiar with, having grown up near the ECML), but how many lines did the "big four" and British Rail build in around seventy five years?