Railways blackmail'
Page 20
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
BRITISH RAIL was accused of "blackmail" this week by British Road Federation chairman Mr Tony de Boer.
He said that rail users should meet their track costs in the same way that road users were being expected to do so.
Sir Richard Marsh,chairman, came in for sme strong criticism for his predictions of passenger losses if fares rise.
Mr de Boer said that Sir Richard's speech — in which he had predicted that 60,000 commuters would be lost to the railways if fares rose — was "indulging in political blackmail" and "playing on the fears of commuters."
He accused BR of facing the Government with a situation where they dare not cut subsidies on loss-making lines.
The Government had cut transport investment by just over 14 per cent since 1973. "This was not a transport decision but a political one," said Mr de Boer.