WI: UK doubles-down on rail?

More specifically, what if the Special Roads Act of 1949 never came to be and instead something comparable for commuter rail was passed?
IIRC, the legislation stipulated that local authorities could use central government funds for the construction of vehicle specific roads around towns and cities
aka the first British Motorway (M1 to be exact)

What could the post-war Ministry of Transport do for commuter only rail with the investment that OTL's British Parliament designated to the motorway?
 
Last edited:

Devvy

Donor
The railways got an absolute battering during the Second World War, with a raft of deferred maintenance across the board. Nationalisation, forming British Rail from the previously private interests, had only just occurred (in 1948) - most of the concern was over administration of the new organisation, and getting such a huge beast running.

The terms of such a massive investment still needed some significant research - ie. what form of electrification to take - before sums could be sunk in to British Railways. Once all the necessary research, planning, and budgeting had taken place, we got the 1955 Modernisation Plan, which sunk approx £1.2 billion in to British Railways (roughly equal to around £30 billion today - a huge sum) in hopes of completely renovating the network and making it fit for purpose. Which, with the benefit of hindsight, was an opportunity completely lost, and set out the ground for the Beeching Axe and the network as we have it today.
 
Top