Railways' Hand Forced ?
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EVIDENCE of the determination of the railways to meet the competition of long-distance coach services is provided by the decision to introduce a cheap period return fare from London to Glasgow and Edinburgh, From April 10 special trains will be run between London (St. Pancras and Marylebone), Glasgow (St. Enoch) and Edinburgh (Waverley) on Friday and Saturday nights at a return fare of £3 10s.
To be known as "Starlight Specials," these trains will have limited numbers of seats which passengers will have to book in advance in both directions. A passenger travelling from Glasgow on a Friday night, for example, will be able to return either by the Saturday night train or on the 8th or 15th day after departure.
The ordinary third-class return fare between London and Glasgow is £5 17s. 4d., and the Edinburgh fare is £5 14s. 8d. The return fare on the Scottish services of Scottish Omnibuses, Ltd., is £3 (single £1 10s.) and the period return fare on the service run by Northern Roadways, Ltd., is £3 15s.
A claim that his company had been responsible for " forcing the British Railways' hand in reducing the fares" was made on Monday by Mr. Harry McGhee, managing director of Northern Roadways, Ltd. It was rather significant, he said, that the special rail excur
sion fares were announced virtually a few hours before the hearing of appeals [reported on page '31] by British Railways and bus companies controlled or partly controlled by the British Transport Commission, against the granting of road service licences to Northern Roadways, Ltd., in respect of its nightly coach services between Glasgow and London and Edinburgh and London.
'It is also significant that these special excursion fares are restricted to the Scottish-London services, and in particular, the two routes from Glasgow and Edinburgh on which this company operates. This appears to be a lastminute attempt to strengthen the Railways' case," said Mr. McGhee.
" If the British Railways were genuinely interested in reducing their fares, they should have done so two years ago, when this company first made an application for licences. They make this intimation now when this compatqr has spent approximately £12,000 in fighting for its licences against the tremendous odds of the British Transport Commission.
" It is interesting to note that the proposed new railway excursion fares operate only on a Friday night out of Scotland and a Saturday night out of London. These, of course, are the busiest nights of the week and it would appear as though they are endeavouring to scoop the cream of the traffic."