Terminal Decline
In common with lines all over the country, the 1960s were a period of steady decline for services to the West Country as car ownership increased.
In 1963 control of all lines west of Salisbury was handed over to the Western Region – still the hated Great Western Railway to most of the Southern employees – and changes to the "ACE" followed swiftly. From June 1963 the Bude, Torrington and Plymouth through carriages were withdrawn except on summer Saturdays. The remaining services survived through the summer of 1964, the last "ACE" running on 5 September 1964.
The radical pruning of the railway system from 1966 by Dr Richard Beeching affected the West Country. Torrington lost its passenger services in 1965, the North Cornwall branches in 1966, the Plymouth line in 1968, and Barnstaple to Ilfracombe in 1970.
Read more about this topic: Atlantic Coast Express
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