Let's invest
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A CALL TO accelerate planned investment in transport facilities so as to stimulate economic growth was made by the incoming president of the Chartered Institute of Transport, Robert Reid, in his presidential address this week.
Investment projects on which an early start could be made, according to Mr Reid, British Rail's chief executive (Railways), include bringing forward many trunk road schemes not due to be started until after 1984, a 50 per cent increase in local authority road construction, and the extension of railway electrification.
The investment 'projects, worth around £800m, could generate substantial economic benefits and generate up to 60,000 jobs. The hard-hit construction, steel and engineering supplier industries would receive a boost, while the resulting increased efficiency would lead to cheaper and more competitive goods and, services and increased national income. Social security spending would fall, claimed Mr Reid.
Over the last six years there has been a 30 per cent fall in transport investment, Mr Reid pointed out. "All of us want to see a sustained resumption of economic growth and improving living standards. Revitalising Britain's transport system could make a major contribution to the achievement of these aims."