Page:The Reshaping of British Railways (Beeching Report).pdf/69

 It is noticeable, from both maps, that the majority of the little-used lines are away from main centres of population, industrial areas, centres of raw material production, and the major ports. As would be expected, the main routes between the key centres are those which are most used.

The two most striking differences between the map showing passenger travel and the map showing freight traffic occur in London and in the Leeds-Sheffield-Derby area.

The dominance of London in the passenger field as compared with the rest of the country is well illustrated. Equally, the freight movement in the industrial area mentioned dominates the freight picture.

The heavier passenger travel outside London and the large cities is concentrated on a lesser number of routes than is freight.

Short distance passenger movement into and out of the major cities is clearly seen. Much of this is twice daily peak travel at sub-standard fares, and the line thicknesses should be interpreted with this in mind.

Line densities are not the only measure of the use made of the railway and in the sections which follow the contribution made by stations in the fields of passenger travel and freight movement are given in supporting tables. Any apparent discrepancies in totals are due to rounding.

There are marked disparities in the contribution which stations make to passenger traffic. Whilst passenger receipts are not necessarily a true measure of the contribution each station makes, because some receive more traffic than they originate, they can be regarded as a reasonable guide.

Passengers

An analysis of the revenue accruing from passengers during 1960 at 4,300 stations which were still open to passengers at the end of 1962 is given in the following table:—

Table No. 4

Number of stations

Passenger receipts

Range of passenger receipts

Actual

Percentage of total

£'000

Percentage of total

(Figures in brackets are cumulative)

Less than £2,500 1,762  41  1,429  1

£2,500-£9,999 1,119  26 (67)  6,028  5 (6)

£10,000-£49,999 884  21 (88)  20,220  16 (22)

£50,000-£199,999 406  9 (97)  39,484  30 (52)

£200,000-£499,999 95  2 (99)  28,226  22 (74)

£500,000 and over 34  1 (100)  34,196  26 (100)

4,300 100  129,584  100