Independents threatened
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• Mr. Richard Marsh told MPs this week that he had varied the conditions applying to a large number of past consents for bus services provided in place of withdrawn rail services in order to transfer to the NBC and the STG the obligation to provide or secure the provision of those services already being operated by their subsidiaries or by independent operators under contract to those subsidiaries.
Negotiations would now take place to see whether it was possible to transfer financial responsibility to .the new authorities for the small number of replacement bus services at present provided by other independent operators and municipal undertakings. The Minister pointed out that further changes would in any case be made in due course in respect of such services operating wholly or mainly within the areas of the first four PTAs and within the London area.
Most of these replacement bus services would in future be provided by the NBC and the STG, or under arrangements made by them, continued Mr. Marsh. They would of course continue to be subject to the licensing powers of the Traffic Commissioners.
In the relatively small number of cases where services would continue for the time being to be run by independent operators and at the expense of the Railways Board proposed changes would still need his prior consent, he said.