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Two surveys of the future of British transport were published in March of this year: 'The reshaping of British Railway' and 'The transport needs of Great Britain in the next twenty years'. The second of these sets out, in general terms, the relationship between transport needs and economic growth. This article, therefore, does not attempt to go over this ground again: its purpose is to provide background material to some of the issues raised by the two reports. It discusses, first—since this is the main point of current discussion—the social costs of the closures proposed. Secondly, it looks at the forecasts of the total demand for freight transport. Thirdly, it considers the particular problem the railways have, in that they are competing with transport owned and controlled by the user himself. Fourthly, the article sets out some comparisons of railway finances in various European countries. At the end of the article there is a collection of transport statistics.