A major railway survey in April 1961 was used in the writing of a government report on the future of the network. This report was called "The Reshaping of British Railways". It was published by the British Railways Board (BRB) in March 1963. A third of all passenger trains would be scrapped and more than 4,000 of the 7,000 stations would be closed.
InterCity (or, in the earliest days, the hyphenated Inter-City) was introduced by British Rail in 1966 as a brand-name for its long-haul express passenger services (see British Rail brand names for a full history).
Passenger levels fell steadily from the late 1950s to the late 1970s, but experienced a sharp increase after the introduction of the high-speed Intercity 125 trains in the late 1970s and early 1980s.
Between 1934 and 1975 the Northern line ran the Northern City Line as its Highbury Branch. London Underground gave it to British Rail in 1975,
Before the sectorization of BR in 1982 the system was split into regions. Working around London, they were London Midland Region (Marylebone, Euston, St Pancras and Broad Street), Southern Region (Waterloo, Victoria, Chairing Cross, Holborn Viaduct, Cannon Street and London Bridge), Western Region (Paddington) and Eastern Region (King's Cross, Moorgate, Broad Street, Liverpool Street and Fenchurch Street). This was perceived to be a source of inefficiency, so sectorization made the regions into a single organisation covering all commuter services. At the same time InterCity took over express services and Regional Railways took over regional services. The group was originally called "Provincial".
BR built 2537 steam locomotives from 1948 to 1960, some to pre-nationalisation designs and some to its own, new, standard designs. Eventually BR chose to end the use of steam trains in 1968.
The official report known as the "Modernisation Plan" of December 1954 was intended to bring the railway system into the 20th century. The aim was to increase speed, reliability, safety and line capacity, by making the railways more attractive to passengers and freight operators. The important areas were:
Long-distance trains from Marylebone began to be cut back from 1958 after the line was given from BR Midland Western to the BR Midland Region. Then BR Midland Region thought it was an unnecessary rival of their Midland Main Line. By 1960 there were no daytime trains running to destinations north of Nottingham and only a few still ran at night. Many Express services were cut. By 1963, local stopping services beyond Aylesbury were cut. In 1965 freight services were ended. Between 1963 and 1966 only a few remaining long distance services stayed in use. A large part of the former Great Central Railway was closed as part of the 'Beeching axe'. This meant that Marylebone was now used only by local trains to Aylesbury and High Wycombe. After the 1960s, lack of investment meant the station itself became run down.
Some of the early models were of poor quality and design, but many later kinds proved their worth in time.
British Rail Class 127 diesel trains were chosen to operate on the services from Marylebone usually to places such as High Wycombe, Aylesbury and Banbury which are on the Chiltern Main Line and Great Central Main Line (now the London to Aylesbury Line). Strangely, the 115 were under Table 115 in the British Rail timetable. They were similar to British Rail Class 127, but were superior as the class had larger windows, better seats, lights and wall surfaces. Both classes were made in the early 1960s.
The British Rail Class 47 (originally "Brush Type 4") is a class of British railway diesel-electric locomotive that was developed in the 1960s by Brush Traction. Their reliable and trusted service lasted well in to the 2000s. Some are still working in 2018.
British Rail gave Class 52 to the class of 74 large diesel-hydraulic locomotives built for the Western Region of British Railways between 1961 and 1964. All were given two-word names, with the first word being "Western", and so the type was nicknamed "Westerns".
The British Rail Class 207 (or 3D) versatile diesel-electric multiple units were built by BR at Eastleigh in 1962.
Some of the early models were of poor quality and design, but many later kinds proved their worth in time.
The British Rail Class 423 (or 4Vep) electric multiple units were built by BR at York Works from 1967 to 1974. They feature manually opening doors next to every seating row and mostly found working outer suburban services in South London, and rural services in Kent and Sussex, up to replacement in 2005.
The British Rail Class 303 is a type of electric multiple unit. They are also known as "Blue Train" units, since they were originally painted blue all over. They were first used in 1960 for the electrification of the North Clyde and the Cathcart Circle lines in Strathclyde.
The British Rail Class 73 electro-diesel locomotives are very unusual in that they can operate from a 750 V DC third-rail supply, but also have a diesel engine to allow them to work on non-electrified routes.
The British Rail Class 86 was the standard electric locomotive built during the 1960s. It was made after the repeated testing of the earlier classes like the 81 and 85. The tests led to a much improved loco design.
The British Rail Class 312 is a type of alternating current (AC) electric multiple unit (EMU) built in 1966–1974 intended for use on outer-suburban passenger services. It was the last class of multiple unit to be constructed to the British Rail Mark 2 body shell, and also the last with slam doors. Their passenger seats were an improvement on former types.
British Rail Class 313 electric multiple units were built by BREL at York Works from 1976 to 1977, thus the first second-generation EMUs to be constructed for British Rail. They were capable of both drawing power via 25 kV AC overhead, or 750 V DC third-rail. They were the first units in Britain to have fully automatic couplers which allowed both physical coupling and also the connection of control electric and air supplies to be carried out without the driver's need to leave the cab. Their passenger seats were also an improvement on former types.
During the late 1950s, railways continued to worsen, and in 1959 the government acted, limiting the amount the British Transport Commission (BTC) could spend on British Rail.
The government proposed that many services could be provided more cheaply by buses, and said that most abandoned rail services would have their places taken by bus services. Only main lines would be untouched. Many other minor lines would be cut back or scrapped.
The business man Lord Beeching saw South Wales as a failing industrial region. So it lost the majority of its network. Since 1983 it has experienced a major rail revival, with new stations such as Llanharan reopening. Four lines reopened within 20 miles (32 km) of each other: Abercynon–Aberdare, Barry–Bridgend via , Bridgend–Maesteg and the Ebbw Valley Line via Newbridge.
The station at Laurencekirk on the mainline between Arbroath and Aberdeen was shut in 1967, but 42 years later in May 2009 it reopened. Other reopened stations include , and – all closed in the mid-1960s.
Haddenham in Buckinghamshire lost its little-used station in 1963, but a more popular station opened in 1987 as the town grew.
A major part of the report proposed that British Rail electrify some major main lines and the use of containerised freight traffic instead of outdated and uneconomic wagon-load traffic. Some of these plans were eventually adopted, however, such as the creation of the Freightliner concept and further electrification of the West Coast Main Line from Crewe to Glasgow in 1974. Also the staffs' terms and conditions were improved over time.