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SETBACK FOR LINER TRAIN PLANS

22nd May 1964, Page 28
22nd May 1964
Page 28
Page 28, 22nd May 1964 — SETBACK FOR LINER TRAIN PLANS
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Which of the following most accurately describes the problem?

FROM OUR INDUSTRIAL CORRESPONDENT

CHAIRMAN of the British Railways Board, Dr. Richard Beeching, faces some tough bargaining with leaders of the railwaymen if he is to be able to go ahead with his grand plan for winning back long-haul goods traffic from the roads to the railways—the £100m. liner train project. The plan received a severe setback last week when the national executive committee of the National Union of Railwaymen decided that it could not agree to give free access to the liner train terminals to vehicles from private hauliers. The committee was prepared to allow firms' own C-licensed vehicles and those of state-owned B.ILS. But not Aand B-Licensed vehicles.

Opposition to private road hauliers having access to the terminals—something which has never been conceded— first began to emerge more than two months ago. The question was temporarily shelved when the N.U.R. executive referred the whole problem to its eight-man negotiating committee. Its report, presented to the executive last week, came down firmly against allowing private hauliers in.

The report was accepted by the executive and after its meeting the following statement was issued: "The N.U.R. executive committee has considered all aspects of the Board's proposals to introduce the principle of free terminals for cartage and delivery services in connection with the liner train operations.

"The committee deplores that the technical and national Press have successfully created the impression that this union is opposing the introduction of liner trains. This allegation is repudiated. The union's approach has been for the acceptance and co-operation in the introduction of these trains as shown by attendance at three meetings and the contribution made at these meetings. There is no policy of obstruction but rather a genuine desire of agreement which will make a success of the venture. The committee is willing to have further meetings with the B.R.B. at any time to again try and inaugurate liner trains on the basis of its proposals of the maximum use of B.R.B. road vehicles, the B.R.S. to the extent agreed and C-licence hauliers using the free terminals ', but cannot accept private road hauliers having this facility.

"it should not be overlooked that involved in the consideration given to this issue is the fact that railway shopmen have been denied the right to even tender for these trains to be made in railway workshops. Also that the suggestion has been put forward by the B.R.B. that they should be run without brake vans."

Clearly, the chief underlying reason for the refusal to allow in private hauliers a22 is fear that many of the jobs of the union's 20,000 to 30,000 cartage members will become redundant if the.depotS are thrown open to everybody.

This gives Dr. Beeching an opening to try to win round the union. This is to give some sort of guarantee that there will be few, if any, redundancies. It is understood that such an undertaking would, in fact, be in line with current thinking by railway experts on the effect the introduction of liner trains would have on cartage staff. Besides, any redundancies that would occur would mainly. be in areas of high employment, where it should not be difficult for a man to find another job.

Without some such agreement, however, Dr. Beeching will face a difficult choice: whether or not it will be worth while to go on with his ambitious—and costly—plan at all. For he is still convinced that to make the plan work there must be free access to the terminals. For the break-down of total freight carried MOM than 100 miles shows that only 22 m. tons, apart from coal, is carried by rail and more than 60 m. tons by road. Of that 60 in. tons more than half is carried by the privately owned public hauliers, who have expressed the greatest interest in the liner train project and are willing to feed into the depots. If they are cut out, more than half the potential traffic is lost before the start. In that case a decision would have to be taken whether the plan was a viable one or not.

The union statement left the door open for further talks and these were expected to be fixed up this week. If agreement can be reached quickly railway chiefs are convinced that there need be no material hold up in putting into effect plans for a pilot scheme. This is a £6 tn. project to link London, Liverpool, Manchester and Glasgow by fast, regular freight services by the end of this year or early next year. Plans for these services are already well ahead and even some of the prototype rolling stock has, I understand, been ordered.


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