AMA report riles industry
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1E Association of Metropolitan AuthoriIs has published its controversial road id rail freight report, but it does not have e backing of the Road Haulage Associa)n, Freight Transport Association or itish Road Federation.
The AMA's draft report acknowledged the )Ip given by groups such as RHA and FTA ho later dissociated themselves from the port (CM, July 12, 1980). An amended re)rt has now been published after "noting e RHA's observations" and the Associa)n's name has been removed from the :knowledgment list along with those of BRF, British Rail, and the Lorries and e Environment Committee.
The FTA submitted four pages of critical id constructive comments to the AMA hen it saw the draft proposal in July and ls not heard from the AMA since. The re)rt, which calls for a switch from road to il freight, is difficult to understand, claims e FTA, and accuses the AMA of disjointed inking.
The study group says that for the reseeable future, most freight traffic will ill go by road but claims that energy, enviinmental and safety considerations all )int towards the need for the potential lered by the rail network to be further balance best be carried by rail where it is arrently moved by road. The FTA did not receive a copy of the final report until one was requested when it was published last week. Though the Association had not compared the final report with the draft one line for line, it is thought that many of the comments it had made had been ignored. The RHA did not receive a copy of the finished report either but said that the draft report contained many errors. It accused the AMA of failing to put enough research into the project and said that certain changes should have been made. At an AMA press conference last week the impression given was that the RHA and especially the FTA were both satisfied with the report. In fact, neither of them had even• seen a copy of the finished report at that time. The AMA now says that the report did not get the backing of RHA or FTA as they "thought it rail-biased". The BRF says it can't give its seal of approval "because we haven't seen a copy". Though BRF disagreed with the tone rather than the detail of the draft, it still stressed that some of the content was nonsense. "It struck us as being a report where the conclusion was decided at the start. It bears no relation to the real world of industry," said a BRF spokesman. The study group report, Road and Rail Freight, is available from AMA, 36 Old Queen Street, London SW1 9JE at £1.Tags