1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
66
67
68
69
70
71
72
73
74
75
76
77
78
79
80
81
82
83
84
85
86
87
88
89
90
91
92
93
94
95
96
97
98
99
100
101
102
103
104
105
106
107
108
109
110
111
112
113
114
115
116
117
118
119
120
121
122
123
124
125
126
127
128
129
130
131
132
133
134
135
136
137
138
139
140
141
142
143
144
145
146
147
148
149
150
151
152
153
154
155
156
157
158
159
160
161
162
163
164
165
166
167
168
169
170
171
172
173
174
175
176
177
178
179
180
181
182
183
184
185
186
187
188
189
190
191
192
193
194
195
196
197
198
199
200
201
202
203
204
205
206
207
208
209
210
211
212
213
214
215
216
217
218
219
220
221
222
223
224
225
226
227
228
229
230
231
232
233
234
235
236
237
238
239
240
241
242
243
244
245
246
247
248
249
250
251
252
253
254
255
256
257
258
259
260
261
262
263
264 
Accent On Co-ordination
Page 71
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
ULLY conscious of the amount of work he has to get through in the present Parliamentary session, the Minister of Transport, Mr. Ernest Marples, has nailed his colours firmly to the mast with commendable promptness. The two major Bills which he wants to promote—the Transport Bill and the Road Traffic Bill—were published late last week.
The Transport Bill is the one that will have the most far-reaching effects on the road transport industry, but the Traffic Bill seems destined for another stormy reception since it substantially retains the bitterly opposed clause permitting disqualification for the commission of three offences within three years, some being almost trivial. An unexpected development in the Traffic Bill was the first official recognition of hovercraft; the Ministry appears to have decided that they are road vehicles.
What of the Transport Bill, the clear intention of which is to give the Railways greater commercial freedom and put them within live years on a paying basis? The accent throughout this Bill appears to underline the Government's avowed intention of setting up a co-ordinated rather than an integrated transport system. They seem to intend to provide the consumer with the choice of the type of transport which suits him best.
The basis of the projected transport system is that the Minister will control, financially and as to broad policy decisions, the four Boards and the Holding Company. Unbiased though the Government's intention may be, however, there is little doubt that a Minister so inclined could exercise a considerable control over who carries what traffic. Exactly how much the Commission's road undertakings will benefit from this Bill is a matter for conjecture, in any case.
A slight surprise is the breaking down of the Transport Tribunal into two divisions, one dealing with London fares and miscellaneous charges and the other with haulage appeals. This should be an advantage.