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MPs have accused operators of heavy goods vehicles, buses and coaches of failing to pay their fair share of taxes.
The all-party Commons Transport Select Committee has called for an independent review of how roadtrack costs are allocated in a report published last week on the financing of rail services. The report was prepared before the election when the committee was chaired by an NUR-sponsored MP.
The MPs conceded that UK hauliers are already among the highest taxed in the EEC, and that in some other countries heavy vehicles probably do not meet the costs for which they are responsible, but they pointed out that foreign hauliers are in competition with railways that are more heavily subsidised than British Rail.
The rules of allocating roadtrack costs were refined following the Armitage Report but the report says: "There does seem to be a need for continual review of the roadtrack cost."