article: The Beeching report of 1963 led to 189 stations in Wales being earmarked for closure, with lines and tracks ripped-up the length and breadth of the country in the decade to follow. But despite the report some Welsh lines have stubbornly refused to fade away. In fact, 32 stations have re-opened, and on Tuesday it was announced Newport could be in line for a new station. The Beeching report, officially titled The Reshaping of British Railways, set out with one aim - to cut the mounting debts of the nationalised British Rail. Chemical company boss Dr Richard Beeching was given the job, despite famously telling the Daily Mirror newspaper: "I have no experience of railways, except as a passenger. So I am not a practical railwayman. But I am a very practical man." He took what many saw as a simple accounting view of the branch lines that criss-crossed the country. If they could not turn a profit, and were not carrying sufficient passengers, then the axe should fall. To go in Wales, the Carmarthen-Aberystwyth line, the Bangor-Amlwch service, branch service to Caernarfon, the end of the Ruabon to Barmouth line, Abercynon to Aberdare, Porth to Maerdy, Barry to Bridgend - the list went on, and on. The closure list was already on top of another 166 Welsh stations and halt-stops put forward prior to the Beeching cuts. In the words of one BBC news broadcaster of the day: "There's never been a Doomsday book of British railways like this. "More than 2,000 stations will be closed. Wholesale shut down of passenger services will leave huge areas of the country to the buses. Every part of the country is affected. "In Wales too, they are drastically reduced. Many of the country services are doomed, leaving only three main links east and west." But while the axe did begin to fall - and fall swiftly in Wales, some stations and lines found themselves saved from the chop. Lines like the Conwy Valley found themselves in favour of then Prime Minister Harold Wilson, who had enthused about the "white heat of technology" rebuilding Britain. "The situation at the time was that they were building a new power station at Trawsfynydd," explained Larry Davies, Arriva Trains Wales' community manager on the line today. "Although there were a lot of local protest from people as one would expect, I think the traffic that came from the power station saved the Conwy Valley line." The nuclear power station is now decommissioned, and the last flask of empty nuclear fuel rods travelled on the lines in 1995. But because of the investment on the line in the 60s, it remains thriving. "It's a lifeline for this community, and a good connection and amazing benefit to the tourism and economy of the area, with our links with the Ffestiniog Railway and a lot of people doing the round-trip of Snowdonia," added Mr Davies. But it was a different story in north-east Wales - where the service on the Ruabon to Barmouth line came to a halt in January 1965
summary: It is 50 years since the biggest shake-up of the rail network ever announced in Britain was published.