It will in some areas reduce public transport to a lower level than in the horse age Lord Stonham, National Council on Inland Transport

In his investigation into the network, he found that only half of the 7,000 stations on the British Rail network carry 98% of the traffic.

A quarter of all traffic starts at just 34 stations, while a third of the track is used by just 1% of traffic.

Perhaps the most controversial part of the report is an appendix, listing over 2,000 stations and 250 train services which could be withdrawn immediately on economic grounds.

Some are tiny, rural stations; others are in major cities like Edinburgh, Glasgow and Liverpool.

The proposed closures drastically reduce local lines in the Scottish Highlands, Wales and the West Country.

In a news conference, Dr Beeching said the first closures were likely to take place in the autumn. He also predicted 70,000 job losses and fare increases in London of at least 10%.

The proposals were given a warm welcome by the government. Transport Minister Ernest Marples said some roads might have to be strengthened, widened or modified to take extra traffic imposed by line closures.

But other MPs have reacted angrily to the proposals. Mark Woodnutt, Conservative MP for the Isle of Wight, which would be left with no railway if the cuts go ahead, threatened to resign from his party if, as he put it, "a Conservative government lets the Island down".

The chairman of the National Council on Inland Transport, Lord Stonham, yesterday condemned the Beeching report as "destructive".

"Far from gearing the railways to the needs of the 1960s," he said, "it will in some areas reduce public transport to a lower level than in the horse age."

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