Let's Imagine1961

John Betjeman:
I'm not just being nostalgic and sentimental and unpractical about railways. Railways are bound to be used again. They are not a thing of the past, and it's heartbreaking to see them left to rot, and to see the fine men who served them all their lives made uncertain about their own futures and about their jobs. What's more, it's wrong in every way when we all of us know that road traffic is becoming increasingly hellish on this overcrowded island and that in ten years from now, there'll be three times as much traffic on English roads as there is today. What will the West Country be like than? How will we get anywhere in summer except by a railway? How will we see any country, except from a train? I think it's more than likely that we'll deeply regret the branch lines we've torn up and the lines that we've let go to rot.