The RMT have marked the 60th anniversary of the publication of Dr Beeching’s report ‘The Reshaping of British Railways' by slamming the continued “managed decline” of our railways under an “unsustainable and failing privatised” model.

The report published in March 1963 led to the slimming down of the UK’s railway network with hundreds of stations and railway lines closed.

Lines in Cumbria were closed due to the report including the Keswick to Penrith line, the Keswick to Workington line and the Edinburgh to Carlisle line.

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RMT general secretary Mick Lynch said that it had been 60 years since Dr Beeching 'took his axe' to the railways in one of the 'single most disastrous acts of vandalism to our public services in history' but warned that ‘managed decline’ of the railways continues today with poor performing rail companies and significant rail infrastructure projects continuing to be downgraded including HS2, Northern Powerhouse Rail and the Integrated Rail Plan.