'Chromium dreams. The political obstacles to railway modernisation in Britain' in M Pinheiro (ed), Railway Modernization. An historical perspective (19th and 20th centuries)

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  • Name Public ownership & control inc nationalisation, municipalisation & privatisation
  • Name Government intervention exc legislation & regulation

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Written by a Policy Officer, Local Government Association. Deals with investment in the British railways post 1945 but mostly from the 1950s, providing a narrative of investment levels and modernisation plans which frequently were abortive; government attitude to the railways, their failure to support investment and modernisation, and the reasons for this. This failure seen as the greatest obstacle to railway modernisation. Sections are: 'Political failings of the 1955 plan - conceptual'; Ditto - 'practical'; 'Continuity of modernisation'; 'Success of modernisation'; 'Consequences and conclusions'