Figh t: On in the North!
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NAAY I, as a Londoner, wish Newcastle the best of
luck in its fight against the nationalization of local services. Here, we are already suffering, and the NorthEastern-Area will be in the same condition if it gives in. In London, fares haVe gone up and the services have not improved—in fact; they are worse. I admit that we are :obtaining a fairly steady flow of new vehicles which are yery .cornfortable, but the timetables are just hopeless. • If one judges the London Transport Executive against the Southdown or East kent concerns, it is at the bottom of the class.. If you know of a time at which a Southdown bus should be due at a particular point, it is always there, but in London, at places where one is supposed to find a particular bus every few minutes, it is sometimes necessary to wait up to 20 minutes for a crawling Vehicle. , • hi the good old days, we had the Chocolate Express " and other independent vehicles, which certainly catered for the crowds. Now there seem to be Loads of officials with high salaries and big cars to take them home.
•• We cannot expect every bus in LOndon to be perfectly clean; but they . are not often in this State, and do; not seem to he so frequently repainted as
M. the days of the L.G.0,C. " The . no-standing ride, at certain tithes,..even when crowds have to be lead: shows lack a interest in
:.si.):,g6 on with :the. Tight, Newcastle; fry beat siown the natsenafizers and ;then let us get
this Government out. S. J. EMMETT. . London, S.W.6.
[We are not in favour of nationalized undertakings, but we 'Mist say something in defence of the London Transport Executive. It has a very big task to face, with gteatly increased travel, a fleet which is becoming steadily more obsolescent, and replacements which are neither sufficient to augment the services nor even to make up the losses amongst the older vehicles. We cannot remember fare increases having been made in London since the Executive • took over, and whilst we sympathized with the independent operators who had to give in, a situation in which large numbers of small " pirates " were in direct competition with a big fleet in the same area and over the same routes could not have continued to exist. As regards the no-standing rule, this is not a matter for the Executive alone, but one for negotiation between the Executive and the trade union. It is the employees concerned who have been largely responsible for laying down the law in this respect. They have such regard for their rights in this matter that we have seen a driver pull up his bus and refuse to proceed because there was one person standing inside at the "wrong" time.—E.D.] THE T.M.C. HAS • PLAYED FAIR wpm reference to Mr. Vinter's letter entitled WV "Abolish the T.M.C.," in your issue dated March 4, although I do not usually favour "controls, pools, etc.," I do think that the T.M.C. has given, and still gives, a very fair deal to both manufacturer and user.
As the T.M.C. inspection panel consists of technologists from the leading tyre manufacturers, the user gets the advantage of their unbiased opinion and combined experience' in the assessment of his claim, and is awarded just what he is entitled to When contemplating a: claim, it is well to remember that the tyre in question shows all the evidence of both proper usage or abuse; furthermore, when filling in the standard application form, the user agrees to abide by the T.M.C. decision.
We know what used to happen prior to the formation of the T.M.C., and I question whether it honestly benefited the "trade, industry and public generally" I would mention that, after having made dozens of tyre claims and had over 90 per cent, of them accepted, I feel that the,T.M.C. has not been a stumbling block to, fair business relations; in fact, quite the reverse.
Woodford Green. A. G. PERKINS.
FURNITURE REMOVALS AND THE NEWCOMER IN the recent interesting articles in your columns on '"Furniture Removing for the Beginner," one or two points appear to have been missed by S.T.R. Your , contributor did well to stress the importance of consulting Mr. E. A. Harris, secretary of the N.A.F.W.R. before making any move. The contract with its conditions in general use by members of that body is copyright by the Association, and any person using it without authority is liable to prosecution.
When household removals were ostensibly excluded from nationalization it Was obvious that there would a large attempted infiltration from
t44.ni4ler fijirligs into the removal tra4gin the hope of escaping this Not.'tinly,that, but titty would be free to operate outside the 25-mile limit, effecting removals after the "appointed day," with the possibility of being granted permits: to carry return loads; the latter point being one which is not 'clear. to anyone so far.
The foregoing facts were carefully noted by the established removers. (as indeed they will have been by the Traffic Commissioners and the Road Transport Executive), with the result that applications for licences from newcomers, and renewals of and additions to ' existing licences whiCh include household removals, are now being "strenuously opposed in all traffic areas with a fair .,nneasyre of success. Furthermore, it should not be overlooked that the 'British Transport Commission already has a country
wide removal organization in existence, and any big addition to the number of removers, with the consequential rampant price-cutting, will inevitably lead to further nationalization. Commonsense dictates that the B.T.C. will not stand aside and see one of its departments cut to ribbons by "free operators.",
The Transport Act does not state that 'furniture
removers are exempt from nationalization, but does state that "ordinary furniture removals shall not be treated as ordinary long-distance carriage," which is a very different thing. Nor does the Act attempt to define a furniture remover, and a definition is not so simple as it would seem. Before the present transition period finishes, it may well be that not only new entrants Will have to prove the number of household removals carried out in relation to other traffic in any given year before the Transport Act became law. It cannot be toO.strongly emphasized that the National. Association of Furniture Warehousemen and Removers is well fitted-to deal with , all the problems at present arising and likely to arise.
Glasgow, W4. A. R. WILSON, M.I.R.T.E.