British Railways 1955 Modernisation Plan

The British Railways Modernisation Plan was Detailed in the British Transport Commission's (BTC) document Modernisation and Re-equipment of British Railways which was published in 1955.

The plan proposed the spending of some £1,240 million over a period of 15 years. By making rail services more attractive to both passenger and freight operators, coupled with cost reductions. The object was to recover traffic lost to road and thus improve BR's finances.

The main areas for investment were:

• Electrification of principle routes
  
• Large scale introduction of diesel and electric traction with new coaching stock
  
• Resignalling and track renewal

After publication the BTC was asked to review its financial state and prospects, which resulted in the reappraisal of the plan and the finances being underwritten by the government in a White Paper of 1956. This stated that modernisation would help eliminate BR's financial deficit by 1962.

However, BR's finances got worse and a second reappraisal of the plan was undertaken in 1959. This promised to speed up modernisation, especially the introduction of diesel traction and resignalling, plus relationalisation of route mileage and stations. This resulted in mass orders for the diesel classes that were being prototyped without due regard on their suitability, many of which proved to be unsatisfactory later on.

The Modernisation Plan was superseded by Dr Beeching's Re-Shaping of British Railways report in 1963.