Modern Railways | Britain's Railways in the 1950s
The 1950s saw ten years of considerable change on Britain’s railways but, in some ways, they were hardly noticeable to the casual traveller. Steam power was seen to be in charge almost throughout, and with the exception of a few branch line closures, service levels hardly changed.
The decade saw a recovery from wartime neglect, the building of almost 1,000 BR Standard steam engines and provision of new rolling stock, while the seeds of the end of steam were planted with the publication of a modernisation plan, the first fruits of which really only started to appear in the late 1950s.
Despite the changes that nationalisation brought, railways saw passenger numbers decline and losses mount, but few would have predicted the drastic action taken to address these challenges.
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Articles in this issue
Below is a selection of articles in Modern Railways Britain's Railways in the 1950s.