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The French Idea of . By L. Graham Davies

6th June 1947, Page 48
6th June 1947
Page 48
Page 51
Page 48, 6th June 1947 — The French Idea of . By L. Graham Davies
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Which of the following most accurately describes the problem?

Road-Rail "Co-ordination"

Although French Hauliers are Not Yet Threatened with Expropriation, They are Suffering Unfair Competition from the Nationalized Railways and Their Traffic is Gradually Being Taken from Them

DEVELOPED more than two centuries ago and improved by Napoleon, the main-road system of France is the finest in Europe, and, since the dawn of motoring, French people have become increasingly dependent upon it in matters of daily life. For this reason, it may be useful at the present juncture to look at what is happening in road -transport across the Channel. Things are not going at all well.

French railways were nationalized some years before the war, and the arrangement has, on the whole, proceeded smoothly with certain beneficial effects. Had the railways not been State-owned, it is doubtful whether they -would have been able to make that lightning come-back achieved in 1945, after the appalling destruction caused by Allied bombing in final stages of the European war.

Over 1,000 main-line bridges were down when the last Germans left France in such a hurry, Yet little more than a year later, the railways were beginning to function al most normally.

Unfair Competition .

Road transport is an entirely different matter. Its extremely diverse ramifications are, to some extent, realized by those in authority, and post-war Governments, despite their strong Leftist tendency, have not yet threatened the French haulier with expropriation. He is, nevertheless, subjected increasingly to a most unfair form of State competition. This is worth noting, as the same state of affairs is bound to arise in the near future., under the British scheme of nationalization, when the railways become State property.

Ever since the French railways were nationalized, in 1934, a spate of smooth words has flowed from official sources on the matter of co-ordination between road and rail. • The two methods of transport were to help each other, and, in cases where their respectiveinterests clashed, matters were !o be settled in a just and amicable manner by joint committees of hauliers and railway officials.

Unfortunately for France, a policy exactly in reverse, of this is being carried out by the S.N.C.F (the State railway group), and hauliers are now organizing a mass protest movement.

The following is an example of the kind of thing that is happening all the time:On March 7 last, a 'simple decree, corresponding with one of our too-familiar Orders in Council, fixed new freight tariffs for the S.N.0 F. At first glance, this decree appeared to make an average, all-round decrease in railway charges of 11 Oer cent. Reading through it more carefully, however, one found that the drop in charges varied between 20 per cent. and 45 per cent. in the matter of heavy loads carried over Icing distances. The average overall drop remained, nevertheless, at the 11 per cent. stated'— an astute move on the part of the railway authorities

Sprats to Catch Mackerel

In other words, the S.N.C.F. has lowered its tariffs for goods which would normally travel by road, in order to attract a new clientele. It has, on the other hand, raised its charges sharply for the transport of material that can be carried only by rail. This kind of " co-ordination " exasperates road hauliers and accounts for the present great protest movement.

They are also demonstrating against certain recent arbitrary measures directed against the operation of their industry. They claim, with justice, that these measures are not in the national interest and that they are retarding French recovery. Here are one or two examples, out of scores, which give an indication of State railway methods.

Reconstruction materials are sent to the Channel ports by road, and for some time the lorries.used have carried many tons of .fish on their return trips. Then, one day, an order was made forbidding the transport of fish by road. Alt fish must travel by rail.

As a result, the lorries go back empty, whilst the fish, landed frequently at a late hour because of the tides, remains at the ports until the next day for shipment by, train. This discrimination is applied in spite ot the obvious advantages offered by road vehicles in the transport of fish—minimum handling, rapid door-todoor journeys and, above all, great elasticity in times of departure from the ports.

" Where is this co-ordination that we hear so much about," say the hauliers, "when the two agencies of transport do not arrange to carry the people's food in the best possible manner?"

Suppose that a Paris haulier has a load for Bordeaux. What would be the most natural type of load for his return journey? Wine. Certainly, but nowadays wine may be carried by road only over short distances. For long-distance delivery it must go by train. The same rule holds good; incidentally, for early vegetables, thus depriving hauliers of return loads from the South of France.

Railways on the Roads Among rail-road co-ordination propaganda, which French officialdom turns out by the yard, much publicity has been given to newly built goods-distributing centres. Complete goods trains arrive at these centres, which are well arranged for the rapid transference of material from railway wagon to road vehicle. Local hauliers had been under the impression that their work of distributing the goods throughout the surrounding region would be greatly expedited by the `arrangement. Now, they find themselves up against competition with great fleets of railway-owned motor vehicles, for the use of which the centres were, in fact, constructed.

At Lyon the S N.C.F has erected an enormous building tor the reception and sorting of goods which arrive by rail. Despite the fact that the hauliers of Lyon are particularly well organized for the distribution of such goods, and give every satisfaction to their clients, the S.N.C.F. has ordered a great fleet of 100 tractors and 200 trailers to operate from this centre—as a measure of "co-ordination," presumably.

British Governments, of whatever party, have been railway-minded for the past 100 years, when not actively horse-minded. Their reaction to the coming of mechanical transport by road WAS that of repressive laws against all who wished to use the roads rather than the railways. In Great Britain we came to look upon France as an almost ideal country for the road user, as motoring, whether commercial or private, was actually encouraged by successive Governments.

Tradition thrown Overboard By 1938 the roads of France provided a living for more than a million Frenchmen. The smallest village and the most isolated farmhouse could be reached by road and could thus participate in the national life. Meanwhile; the motor industry had become one of the mainstays of French national economy.

Nevertheless, since the liberation of France from German occupation a long series of measures directed against road users has been introduced. Commercialvehicle owners are hampered at every turn and have just had their monthly petrol ration reduced by 10 per cent. ha consequence, they will be forced to buy much of their fuel at the almost prohibitive " extra-fuel " rate fixed recently by Government decree.

It may be remembered that, in order to break the gigantic black market in petrol, which had grown up since the liberation, the Government itself decided to enter that market and take the rake-off. This becomes operative next month. The price of "extra petrol," over and above one's ration, has not yet been fixed definitely, but it will be well above that of rationed fuel.

We have always been inclined to regard the French as being rather more logical than ourselves in their attitude towards the use of the roads. The anti-road policy of their present elected representatives is thus almost inconceivable at a moment when France is struggling to her feet. after long years of enemy occupation. • Unfortunately, the French commercial-vehicle user, casting his glance on this side of the Channel, can have the dismal satisfaction of seeing that he is not alone in his troubles. Mass stupidity has done its deadly work in both countries, and men of the wrong type are in political control—men full of ideals, but with t lust for power and gifted with little ordinary common sense.

Protest to President recently attended a meeting of the newly formed Union Routiere de France, at which M. Georges Gallienne, delegue-general of that. body, gave a broad outline of present conditions in the French motor world. He mentioned a letter which the Union has addressed to President Ramadier on the forthcoming dual-price scheme for petrol. This letter pointed out that, whilst this arrangement was bad in itself, it would be accepted provisionally as a contribution to the national effort, with the reserve that it must be regarded purely as a temporary measure, that the difference between the two prices must be extremely small, and that the upper price must be progressively reduced. ,

Road transport in France was, he said, passing through a difficult crisis from the alarming rise in operational costs, in which the, price of fuel was an important factor. Thus, it was indispensable that this price, the establishment of which was entirely in Government hands, should be reduced.

"Take" without "Give"

M. Gallienne went on to say that French hauliers were finding all expansion of their activities blocked by the action of the Soci6te' Nationale des Chemins der Fer, a society which pays no taxes and, at the same time, receives Government subsidies of every kind. He stressed the point that cheaper transport would mean an immediate drop in the cost of living, now appallingly high in France, and he called for the freeing of petrol and the fixing of a reasonable price for it.

M. Gallienne also demanded a much larger allocation of raw materials to the motor industry. The present allotment is undoubtedly insufficient, a fact which has the natural effect of slowing down the production of vehicles.

Tags

Organisations: Fer
Locations: Paris, Lyon

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