Editorial
Page 6
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PLYMOUTH's five-year-old ferry service to Northern Spain had modest beginnings but is now poised for substantial growth, which will see drivers putting their feet up while they sail past the coast of Western France. And the operator, Brittany Ferries, recently announced its intention to challenge the major ferry lines with a service between Portsmouth and Caen in 1986. Jack Semple reviews the progress of the line which was launched by French farmers wanting to send their products to Britain.
• Wincanton Transport dominates milk haulage in the South West, but is now expanding nationally into many other areas of bulk transport. Jack Semple reports on how the Unigate firm views the market.
• Noel Millier, too, has travelled west. In a deregulated future, minibus operation could become much more common in urban areas. One of the biggest highdensity minibus operations in Britain has already been established in a west of England City. Read CM next week to see how it works, and what the public thinks of it.
• The Freeport concept is one that many hope will give a boost to trade and industry and that means opportunities and jobs in transport. It's early days yet, but John Durant has been to Southampton Freeport to see what is on offer.
• The latest MAN flag ship, the 19.361F, which was first shown at last year's Frankfurt Show, has been around our exacting Scottish route. It drew many admiring glances, but the most that many fellow travellers saw of it was of the nearside as it surged quietly past them. Behind its surprising performance lies the bored out 12-litre engine with its tuned induction resonance and chargecooling which gives 1,500Nm (1,106 lbft) of torque between 1,180 and 1,600rpm. At the new speed limits, even our photographer had trouble keeping it in his view. Read Bryan Jarvis's report next week.
• By next week the Motor Show will be history and everything is back to normal. But what actually happened when threequarters of a million people decided to go to Birmingham to look at some vehicles? David Wilcox has searched out some of the less obvious stories from the National Exhibition Centre and brings you an alternative view of the show next week.
• Meanwhile, our passenger transport editor Noel Milker has been looking in more detail at the coach and bus exhibits at NEC. It was a good year for the passenger industry and Noel Millier explains why.