
Dr Richard Beeching holding a copy of his 1963 report proposing the closure of a third of Britain's railway lines.
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At the beginning of the 20th century, approximately 130 rail companies provided competitive services in Britain. In 1911, a departmental committee on railways recommended that regulated cooperation would serve the national interest better than unrestrained competition.
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Further reading
- Wolmar, C., A New History of the Railways in Britain (London: Atlantic, 2007)
- Loft, C., Government, the railways and the modernization of Britain: Beeching's last trains (New York: Routledge, 2006)
- Gourvish, T., British Railways 1948-1973: A Business History (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1986)