RAILWAY COSTS AND CLOSURES

An important feature of the Serpell Report on the future of British Rail (Department of Transport, 1983) was a series of network studies by the Committee's consultants outlining estimated financial savings that could be achieved by reducing the rail system. One criticism of these studies was that the savings identified were purely financial, and that no attempt had been made to use cost-benefit techniques. The present paper sets out to survey twenty years of developments in the analysis and treatment of rail services in Britain since the Beeching Report (British Railways Board. 1963). The Beeching Report heralded a substantial contraction of the rail system; and its analysis too was based on financial criteria. But it was not long before subsidies were to be provided for rail services whose "value to the community outweights their accounting cost to the railways". This paper surveys the development of cost-benefit analysis of such services and the difficulties in its application, and considers the implications of cost-benefit results both in the light of previous Government policy towards the rail newtork and in the light of the Serpell Committee's network studies.

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• Authors:
  • DODGSON, J S
• Publication Date: 1984-9

Media Info

• Pagination: p. 219-235
• Serial:
  • Journal of Transport Economics and Policy
  • Volume: 18
  • Issue Number: 3
  • Publisher: University of Bath
  • ISSN: 0022-5258
  • Serial URL: http://www.jtep.com

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Benefit cost analysis; Financial analysis; Railroads; Social benefits; Subsidies; Transportation planning
• Identifier Terms: British Rail
• Geographic Terms: United Kingdom
• Subject Areas: Finance; Planning and Forecasting; Public Transportation; Railroads;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00394420
• Record Type: Publication
• Source Agency: International Union of Railways
• Files: TRIS
• Created Date: May 31 1985 12:00AM