N.U.R. Attack Haulage
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AVIOLENT attack on the road haulage industry was made last week in "The Railway Review," official organ of the National Union of Railwaymen. Under • the headline, 'This Traffic should be carried by Rail," it advocated that traffic more suitable for carrying by rail should be taken off the roads "either bymore stringent licensing or price policy, or by inducement of one sort or another."
"We need transport planning if we are to use the transport resources of this country most economically," the article
declared. Leaving things to competition will aggravate an already chaotic situation." It was 'patently absurd" to clutter up our roads with heavy longdistance traffic when much of this traffic would be more speedily carried by rail, without inconveniencing any other user of transport.
"Railways are specialists. Road hauliers are users of public property which others have a right to share. These big freight road vehicles interfere with other road users and that should not be permitted. It's about time the proportion of goods traffic was 60-40 in favour of railways and not the other way around."
The article claimed that the immense expansion of road transport in the past few years was due to the "unfettered play of self-interest of road haulage concerns and industrial and commercial firms."
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