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The Challenge
Page 3
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DR. BEECHING has thrown down the gauntlet. In the second of British Railways' traffic duties (see page 7 of this issue), he set a target figure of 90 million tons a year as the amount of freight he wants to filch from road transport. In case the figure does not strike home, look at it another way:the study covered 305 million tons a year, of which 82 million tons went by rail and 223 million tons by road—a proportion of over 70 per cent. Should he be successful, Dr. Beeching would alter the carryings to 172 million tons by rail and 133 million tons by road—reducing the road share to around 44 per cent. That is the measure of his challenge!
Do not be taken in by his coy suggestion that the pattern which emerges is one of side-by-side competition. He means to choose only what traffic he wants, improve services where he can, and then cut rates until he gets the traffic. This is not designed to improve the well-being of road hauliers; and without the strong element of road competition, how can traders hope to get any sort of consistent service from the railways?
Now is the time for operators fully to understand the position and act accordingly—not when the traffic is already being lost and the harm is done.