The report was portrayed by rail supporters as a "second Beeching", was not taken up by the government, and did not result in any network changes. In the words of the railway historian Julian Holland, the report was simply 'quietly forgotten by the Conservative government.' However, for a few years after the report, British Rail did 'quietly pursue the potential for bus substitution on selected routes' and some rationalisation of infrastructure continued. For some years afterwards the Conservative Government was accused by its opponents of implementing the report via stealth. Passenger numbers picked up through the mid and late eighties, reaching a 20-year high in 1988, and have continued to grow since. The report, and the hostile reaction to it, has been described as a 'turning point in the fortunes of the national rail network'.