existing trends, there is not likely to be any change so radical as to affect the desirability of building up as much as possible of the main line network of services, or of withdrawing rural services which are lightly used both because of low population density and because of the growth of alternative means of transport.
The trend towards concentration of industry and population in the South-East is unfavourable to the future of the main line network of the railways and it would be beneficial if it were reversed. Failure to suppose any reversal of the trend has not, however, led to any proposal to modify main line routes. The building of a Channel Tunnel will also have a favourable effect on the railways, unless it greatly intensifies migration to the South-East, but, here again, the benefit will be to the main line traffics and, perhaps in particular, to Liner Train types of service. Nothing prejudicial to future rail developments in connection with a Channel link is proposed, and Liner Train services will be planned with the Tunnel in mind.
Prevention of Industrial Growth by Withdrawal of Railway Services
The point has been made in the previous section that there is no proposal to weaken the main line network within the country, so that there will be no inhibition of a general re-location of industry and population as a result of the proposals put forward. It can be argued, however, that re-location on a smaller scale may be affected by closure of lightly used branches and extensions of the main routes.
This may conceivably be true, but it must be recognised that most of the lines to be closed have already been in existence for some fifty to a hundred years, and their existence has not induced development so far. Indeed, in most cases the trend has been in the opposite direction. Therefore, in formulating proposals for line closure, all the Railway Regions have taken account of any developments which are sufficiently specific to be probable, but have not been influenced by quite unsupported suggestions that something might happen some day.
SUMMARY OF THE REPORT
The Report describes the investigations carried out, the conclusions which were drawn, and the proposals which are made for the purpose of reshaping British Railways to suit modern conditions.
The thought underlying the whole Report is that the railways should be used to meet that part of the total transport requirement of the country for which they offer the best available means, and that they should cease to do things for which they are ill suited. To this end, studies were made to determine the extent to which the present pattern of the railways' services is consistent with the characteristics which distinguish railways as a mode of transport, namely:—the high cost of their specialised and exclusive route system, and their low cost per unit moved if traffic is carried in dense flows of well-loaded through trains. As a result, it is concluded that, in many respects, they are being used in ways which emphasise their disadvantages and fail to exploit their advantages.
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