Private rail indicates 'joy for the haulier'
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• Hauliers will win a bigger share of the freight market after British Rail is privatised, Labour transport spokesman Peter Snape claimed last week.
At the end of a Commons debate on the privatisation White Paper, Snape said: "The most likely outcome of these proposals for freight transport will be that they will bring even more joy to the Road Haulage Association, despite the fond hopes expressed by Conservative members.
"It will be more expensive to carry freight by rail under the new regime, when subsidies to rail freight will be forbidden, just as they are now."
He added: "At the moment, freight enjoys a favourable charging regime on the railway network, although nowhere near as favourable as that granted to road operators." Transport Minister Roger Freeman insisted that track charging will not discriminate against rail freight operators: "If we want to expand the freight industry, we must have a user-friendly system."
Earlier in the debate, Transport Secretary John MacGregor announced that the rail freight and parcels businesses are likely to be sold by competitive tendering in 1994. He said a major study is being carried out into how the freight business should be reorganised.