Coach Fares Up 7'/ 7 Per Cent. ?
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I ICENS1NG AUTHORITIES it re Lai bony asked by the Central Fares Committee to allow fares on express services to and from London to he • increased by a maximum of 7 117 per cent. Fares on express services are at present 16 2/3 per cent: above the prewar level and the new proposal, if accepted, will make coach travel 25 per cent. dearer than before the war.
Rail passenger charges are officially stated to be 55 per cent. above pre-war figures. In fact, as Mr. David Blee, of British Railways, admitted under crossexamination before the _Transport Tribunal in January of this year, the average passenger charge per mile has risen by 93 per cent, since the war.
The proposal to increase coach fares has been put forward to meet the eOra.
fuel duty imposed in the Budget. A
joint meeting of the Regional Fares Conimittees, held last Friday, passed a re-so lution. recommending the Central Fares Committee to press for an increase of 7 117 per cent. The Central Fares Committee accepted this proposal. The I .figure of 7 1/7 per cent. is.a inakiinum and each Regional Fares•CommitteeWill Meet to decide the actual fares to be charged in its own region.
There is a difference of opinion among operators as to Whether public inquiries will have to be held into these applications. In some quarters it is thought that the Licensing Authorities
will accept the recommendation without requiring applicants to prove their cases individually at public inquiries.