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and must have curved roofs to clear tunnel and bridge profiles. As an example of the difficulties ahead of such a plan, he said that in Genoa, trams had to be used in place of buses in an old rail tunnel, after widespread complaints about fumes in the tunnel.
While BR would welcome the conversion of abandoned railways, as this would take a burden off its back, said Mr Bleasdale, the case does not exist for large-scale conversion of existing railways. They would only add five per cent to the country's road network but would increase road traffic by 11 per cent. The rate of return might even be negative.
Instead, he said that the road industry should press for a better road network.
In discussion, Mr Dalgleish said it is ludicrous to suggest that a two-track railway does not make a decent road.
There would be no need to raise bridges unless abnormal loads — not carried by rail today — were going on the new roads, he said.
British Rail is deliberately sabotaging the chances of railway conversion by selling off the profitable parts of its abandoned track near towns for property development said Mr Dalgleish. This point was refuted by Mr Bleasdale who said that local authorities {highway authorities) have first call on abandoned track.
In reply to a question about Section 8 rail-siding grants, Mr Bleasdale told East Midlands delegate Jack Garn that the criteria for the grants are extremely strict. The Department of Transport alone rejects half the applications because they do not take heavy lorries off the roads, and many are rejected on their initial submission to local authorities.
Western district member Roger Cullimore congratulated Mr Dalgleish on a "most enlightened" paper.