26 Facts About Richard Beeching

Richard Beeching, Baron Beeching, commonly known as Dr Beeching, was a physicist and engineer who for a short but very notable time was chairman of British Railways.

Richard Beeching 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.

Richard Beeching's father was Hubert Josiah Beeching, a reporter with the Kent Messenger newspaper, his mother a schoolteacher and his maternal grandfather a dockyard worker.

Shortly after his birth, Richard Beeching's family moved to Maidstone where his brothers Kenneth and John were born.

Richard Beeching remained at Imperial College where he undertook a research PhD under the supervision of Sir George Thomson.

Richard Beeching continued in research until 1943, first at the Fuel Research Station in Greenwich in 1936 and then the following year with the Mond Nickel Laboratories in London, where he was appointed senior physicist carrying out research in the fields of physics, metallurgy and mechanical engineering.

Whilst with Armament Design, Richard Beeching worked under the department's superintendent and chief engineer, Sir Frank Smith, a former chief engineer with Imperial Chemical Industries.

Richard Beeching continued his work with armaments, particularly anti-aircraft weaponry and small arms.

Richard Beeching was then appointed to the Terylene Council, and subsequently to the board of ICI Fibres Division.

Richard Beeching returned after two years to become chairman of ICI Metals Division on the recommendation of Sir Ewart Smith.

Stedeford and Richard Beeching clashed on a number of issues connected with Richard Beeching's proposal to drastically prune Britain's rail infrastructure.

On 15 March 1961 Ernest Marples announced in the House of Commons that Richard Beeching would be the first chairman of the British Railways Board in due course, and that in the meantime he would be a part-time member of the British Transport Commission with immediate effect, becoming the chairman of the commission from 1 June 1961.

Richard Beeching was given a leave of absence for five years by ICI in order to carry out this task.

On 27 March 1963, under orders from Marples, Richard Beeching published his report on the future of the railways, entitled The Reshaping of British Railways.

Richard Beeching called for the closure of one-third of the country's 7,000 railway stations.

Unsurprisingly, Richard Beeching's plans were hugely controversial not only with trade unions, but with the Labour opposition and railway-using public.

Richard Beeching was undeterred and argued that too many lines were running at a loss, and that his charge to shape a profitable railway made cuts a logical starting point.

Richard Beeching was nevertheless instrumental in modernising many aspects of the railway network, particularly a greater emphasis on block trains which did not require expensive and time-consuming shunting en route.

On 23 December 1964, Transport Minister Tom Fraser informed the House of Commons that Richard Beeching was to return to ICI in June 1965.

Underpinning Richard Beeching's proposals was his belief that there was still too much duplication in the railway network, although this report did not propose any closures.

Frank Cousins, the Labour Minister of Technology, told the House of Commons in November 1965 that Richard Beeching had been dismissed by Tom Fraser.

Richard Beeching denied this, pointing out that he had returned early to ICI as he would not have had enough time to undertake an in-depth transport study before the formal end of his secondment from ICI.

Richard Beeching later rose to become deputy chairman from 1966 to 1968.

On 21 May 1969, Richard Beeching performed the official opening ceremony for the heritage railway between Totnes and Ashburton, then known as the Dart Valley Railway.

Richard Beeching died at Queen Victoria Hospital, East Grinstead, in March 1985.

Critics have accused Richard Beeching of ignoring the social consequences of his proposals ; encouraging car use; ignoring possible economies that might have saved lines; and, getting the figures wrong.