I know this will make me really unpopular but I feel that although many of the decisions by Dr. Beeching were a mistake many of them were necessary as had they not taken place we would be talking about entire lines being used by less that 1000 passengers per year rather than the odd parliamentary station.
Given that nearly all the lightly used lines as well as many well used lines were closed under Dr. Beeching I don't think there is any risk we will ever see a large scale line closure ever again in this country.
You have got to remember as well under British Rail particularly in the 1980s rail strikes were very very common many of which closed down entire lines and occasionally the entire rail network.
Benching didn't close any lines down. The government of the day did his dirty work. And there was plenty of that. Many lines were closed for political reasons. The car making unions had a major influence in line closures as they wanted car production increased thus ensuring plenty of work( and strikes ) for their members.
Lines were deliberately run down, trains were omitted from public timetables, unnecessary expenditure on lines etc were all common tactics in helping to create the conditions for justifying line closures.
There aren't that many lines left now to close in the UK after we have decimated our rail network. Large areas of the country are now without any public transport whatsoever
Bus deregulation put paid to scores of rural bus services leaving the UK with a second rate ( at best) transport network.
Integrated transport policies are a thing of the past as new generations of people have grown up never having experience public transport. Why? Because a a country we have destroyed and fragmented our transport network.
The south east has come out of this relatively unscathed but in the majority of rural areas public transport is a thing of the past and never to return.