Serpell undercut
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HOT ON the heels of the much criticised Serpell Report on the future financing of British Rail has come Investing in British Rail, a report commissioned by Transport 2000, the pro-rail pressure group.
The report, carried out by Transport and Environment Studies (Test), stresses the need for a substantial investment programme, with electrification being a major cost factor. Transport 2000 has calculated that the investment option would cost £3.9bn inclusive of main line electrification and station reopening. This figure compares favourably with Serpell's calculations of £4.3bn.
The report said that its investment programme could lead to increased freight traffic for railways at the expense of road freight. If financial restraints were taken away from BR it could buy more specialised wagons and freight containers.
One market that would be accessible to BR would be the transporting offish and meat from markets in Scotland to London and the South-East. At the moment most of these goods are carried by road.
Launching the report in London and the South-East, Transport 2000 chairman Harley Sherlock said: "Serpell's report was not well received by Parliament, acknowledged experts, the media, or British Rail. Apart from ignoring social benefits, and other railway systems, the strangest omission in Serpell_ was a substantial investment programme whose lynchpin was electrification."
"The report compares BR — positively, in the main — with other railways," Mr Sherlock said.