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White Paper highwire
Page 5
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TRANSPORT Minister William Rodgers walks a tightrope next Wednesday when he presents his first White Paper to the House of Commons.
It became clear this week tItat he has tried to please as many people as possible with the paper which outlines a policy, thought to be capable of surviving changes in Government.
Mr Rodgers will almost cer tainly fly in the face of pressure from the unions and British Rail on the question of the future of Freightliners, which now seems unlikely to be returned to BR.
The White Paper is also expected to remove all subsidies from BR freight services.
Local authorities can expect more power over transport in their areas, and part of the cash which would have gone to British Rail will most likely go to the county councils.
This will mean councils will have the power to close lines, but this is thought to be politically impossible, although the move may make more cash available for bus services.
On the question of a national transport authority, Mr Rodgers is known to be in favour of a department of the National Economic Development Council being set up to handle transport rather than a new bureaucratic monolith.
Such a move should please the unions who have been urging this type of thing since the Government Green Paper on Transport was published in April last year.
But secretly, Mr Rodgers appears to be unconvinced of the effectiveness of this type of arrangement.
Roads come in for a complete re-think, and it looks as if the 4,500 miles of motorway target set during the Heath Government will be dropped.
Investment limits will also hit the railways. Mr Rodgers is Likely to insist that the £200 million-a-year level imposed last year will continue, except where commercial motives justify more.