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over Co-ordinated B.R. B.R.S.?

13th November 1964
Page 39
Page 39, 13th November 1964 — over Co-ordinated B.R. B.R.S.?
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Which of the following most accurately describes the problem?

FROM OUR INDUSTRIAL CORRESPONDENT

AFIER all the hot air at union and Labour Party conferences about the need for an integrated transport system, the new Government's proposals to achieve such an end are slow to emerge. From the one public statement about rail closures in the House of Commons last week, and from talks with Ministers behind the scenes, it is clear that integration is still the long-term objective. But it may be some time before concrete proposals are put forward.

This' is not really so surprising as it might appear at first sight. Mr. Tom Fraser, the new Minister of Transport, is a comparative newcomer to the subject of transport, having understudied power in the last Parliament for the Labour front bench. Naturally, he has to start from scratch, and it will take him some time to formulate his own proposals.

On the negative side at least he has pacified opinion on his own side of the House and among the unions by sticking to the letter of Labour policy by announcing his opposition to any further major rail closures. Just how " major " a proposed closure has to be to come under the ban is not quite clear. By laying stress on regional developments, a quite big proposal—like that on the Great Central Line which, however, has alternative main line services—might still be carried through, whilst a comparatively minor branch line, which happens to serve a village due to be developed as a new town might be spared.

Even more uncertain is the place of road haulage. particularly private road haulage, in the future scheme of transport. Mr. Fraser has given a hint that a full-scale review may take some time. Naturally. he is anxious to await the report of the Geddes Committee on licensing, which is now expected to be in his hands within the first half of next year.

One thing, however, seems certain. British Road Services is in for a big expansion. But whether B.R.S. is to continue as a separate entity is less certain. Even if it is not reabsorbed in another British Transport Commission, it will be expected to work far more closely with the nationalized railways.

This raises another speculation: whether there is to be an overall plan for the co-ordination of road and rail transport and, if so, who is to be the Transport Supremo. Surprisingly, the name most often heard these days for the job of transport co-ordinator is Dr. Richard Beeching, chairman of the British Railways Board. Such an appointment would be a logical extension of his work for the railways, and he has already entered the controversial field of comparative road and rail track costs,

It would be a considerable scoop for the Government if it succeeded in persuading Dr. Beeching, who was hailed by the Tories as a top-ranking private enterprise man, to take up the job.

As a technocrat the job would have quite definite attractions for Dr. Beeching. Already he has had informal talks with the new Minister, and the exceptionally mild response so far to the further delays in his plans for making the railways pay may be partly because of his desire to see how things work out. He certainly expected changes from a new Minister, let alone a new Government, and the only comment attributed to him up to now is that he is "not worried by the Minister's statement.

Naturally, he pointed out that any refusal to allow closures would worsen the railway's deficit. But the Minister assured him that any losses through lines for which permission to close down was refused would be shown separately in the accounts so as to lay the blame for that part of the deficit fairly and squarely on the politicians.

If he should be asked to become transport overlord, an all-transport Beeching Plan could then well become the prelude to a new policy of allocating to each form of transport the type of traffic which it is thought best fitted to carry, bearing in mind not merely cost and

service, but the wider question of "social benefit ".

E.R.F. Prosper: E.R.F. Ltd. has announced that the October sales value of home market vehicles exceeded Elm. for the first time. The 1964 sales are already double the 1963 figure, which itself was more than double the total reached in 1962,


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