B.T.C. at the Parting of the Ways
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Government's Plan for the Commission
IRRITISH ROAD SERVICES, the Tilling group, Scottish Omnibuses and London Transport are to be set up as independent trading concerns. They will be grouped under a new holding company. British Railways will tte split up into autonomous regional boards functioning under the general direction of a national body. A total of £400m. is to be written off the British Transport Commission debt.
This was announced on Tuesday when the Government published its White Paper on the future of the B.T.C. Full details are on page 736.
Possibly the most important aspect of this wholesale reorganization, writes a special correspondent, will be the fact that B.R.S., Tillings, and Scottish Omnibuses are to become independent companies under the Companies Act. A lot of people will be eagerly looking forward to the publication of each concern's annual accounts. It will then be possible for the first time to see their finances in a proper perspective.
The London Transport Executive (the last of the 1948 Executives, set up on nationalization) will become—as the London Transport Board—a separate undertaking. It has, in fact, got back almost all of its pre-1948 title.
Each concern will hold its own assets and be responsible for its own trading position.
In the last (1959) annual accounts of the B.T.C., it was shown that B.R.S. made a net profit of £3.Im., an increase of £1.2m. The Tilling and Scottish groups (always accounted jointly) enjoyed net receipts of £6.6m., an improvement of £600,000. London Transport paid its way.