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BUS SERVICES replacing rural railway lines were given a thumbs down from Transport 2000 this week at the launch of its report on the future of British Rail.
The report (see p4) states that bus substitution would lead to slower journey times.
Harley Sherlock, chairman of Transport 2000, said that he had experienced journeys of about 70 miles by buses replacing rural line services. The journey always took longer than by rail.
Added to this there was always the problem of finding a bus at the end of the journey to take you to your final destination.
If often happens that rural villages have just one bus to serve the railway stations and the town. It is not surprising that the buses are rarely at the station when needed, Mr Sherlock said.
Jimmy Knapp, general secretary of the National Union of Railwaymen, was also present at the launch of the report. He pointed out that bus substitution had been recommended by Lord Beeching in 1963 and it had not worked then. "Therefore I do not see any prospect of such a scheme getting off the ground in the future," he said.