let bus men run railways
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THE PROSPECT of bus operato taking over rural railway lino was held out by transport se demic John Hibbs at last week Association of County Council transport conference in Londor Mr Hibbs said there was a le; son to be learned from Arger tina, where a local bus compan recently leased a railway lin( bought the railcars that wer running on it, refurbished ther and fitted the service in with it own operations.
Could not Ron Whittle c Whittle Coaches or the locE National Bus company run th Central Wales line rather well, h, asked.
"British Rail would claim tha no one but themselves shoull be allowed to run trains into Lla nelli, but why let them get awa, with that?" If the alternative wa; closure, as it must sooner o later be, then British Rail shoulc not prevent us from taking hard look at the most unortho dox ideas."
Unorthodox ideas were alsc urged upon conference dele gates by Transport Secretary David Howell and Permaneni Under-Secretary June Bridge. man.
"There is every incentive to explore the possibilities of new developments, refining existing systems and adopting new techniques to produce the most efficient and economical means of meeting today's transport needs," said Mr Howell.
"We need a more imaginative approach in involving voluntary organisations and others running local transport services," said Mr Howell.
"This I believe offers a future much more in keeping with the scale of local needs. In fact the country minibus can often give both the flexibility and the economy that larger vehicles and traditional operating patterns could not deliver."
Mrs Bridgeman told the conference that it was not the question of resources which was inhibiting the provision of rural transport — but of how to make use of the resources there already were. There was not even a need for creating new ideas, there were plenty now.