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CONSERVATIVE councils would seek an injunction to stop the Greater London Council from cutting London Transport fares by 25 per cent, the GLC's Conservative transport spokesman warned last week. ALAN MILLAR reports.
Conservative spokesman Cyril Taylor warned the Labourcontrolled GLC's transport and finance and general purposes committees that he would help co-ordinate a challenge in law to any 25 per cent fares cut, and would expect Conservative councils to seek an injunction.
Despite this warning, and the LT legal advisers' opinion that a 25 per cent fares cut would not be lawful, the committees voted to direct LT to implement the cut from April 3 (two days after the Transport Bill is expected to be in force as an Act), subject to consultation with LT and with counsel.
It has also directed LT to aim to operate the present budgeted 174m bus miles, and to operate as much as possible in order to remain cost-effective with a minimum of 162m bus miles.
Mr Taylor said that LT should, instead, be directed to make a 10 per cent selective fares cut, mainly on the Underground, to bring fares into line with those on British Rail.
He also urged the council to press LT to make greater strides in increasing one-man operation of its services. Rather than aiming for an increase from 49 per cent to 53 per cent o-m-o, he said that LT was capable of increasing o-m-o to 70 per cent.
The GLC's own counsel has advised that the 25 per cent fares cut is probably not lawful, as it would represent an unfair burden upon ratepayers, unless the council is convinced that it is the sole means of meeting the council's statutory obligations to provide efficient public transport.
He has advised that if there is a less expensive and less extensive option which would still meet the GLC's statutory functions; then that should be chosen instead.