Road Transport Topics
Page 50
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
In Parliament
By Our Special Parliamentary Cor respondent
CONCISE REVIEW BY M. OF T. WITH the honour of P.C. fresh upon VV him, Mr. L. Hore-Belisha presented the estimates of the Ministry of Transport in the House of Commons on Monday, and did so in an eminently businesslike and concise manner. Be contrived to make his statement about a host of subjects in half the time ustially occupied by other Ministers on similar occasions. After a reference to the wide survey of the Ministry, now 15 years old, he made important observations regarding the railways.
RAIL TRAFFIC INCREASE AND ROAD TRANSPORT.
UE said that, at a time when road I 'transport was coming under some regulation, it was opportune to bear in mind that the railways, as common carriers, had for a century been subjected to statutory duties. Despite, or, perhaps, encouraged by. reduced charges, the receipts from passengertrain traffic increased during 1934 by over £1,200,000; 64,000,000 more pas-. sengers were carried by the railways in 1984 than in 1933. This recoupment was not wholly at the expense of road traffic, for about 150,000,000 more passengers were carried by road vehicles during 1933-34 than in the previous 12 months.
On the goods side, the improvement in trade and industry was reflected in an increased rail-borne tonnage (particularly of iron and steel) of 19,000,000, or 7i per cent., and increased receipts of approximately £4,550,000.
OVERWORKING AND OVER LOADING TO BE STOPPED. WITH regard to the regulation of VV road transport, two of the chief abuses which it was desired to abate were the overworking of drivers sand the overloading of vehicles.
Whilst the Minister had granted a variation of drivers' hours in the cases of vehicles permitted to carry goods for hire and reward, he had not seen his way to grant an application to extend these increased hours to all the 400,000 goods vehicles on the road. To do so at this stage would seem to be thwarting the intention, of Parliament, which was to preserve the 'public safety.
UNEXAMPLED EXPANSION.
THE intensity of the safety campaign, the Minister said, had not in any way checked the rapid extension of mechanical road transport. At the end of February there were 224,000 more vehicles licensed than at the corresponding date in 1934, and
3336 941,000 more than at the same period of 1931.
The rate at which new vehicles were coming upon the roads exceeded all previous records, and already during the first four months of this year 151,268 new vehicles had been registered, and there was every indication that this Jubilee year would prove to be a year of unexampled expansion in motoring.
BIG GRANTS FOR ROAD WORKS.
AFTER referring to the five-year road plan and the approval, since the beginning of April, of grants amounting to £2,500,000 for work on current applications, Mr. Hore-Belisha said that !considerable progress had been made in the provision of nonskid surfaces and in the Ministry's experiments with the object of producing a surfacing material that would remain non-skid for at least five years.
A Departmential Committee had been appointed to examine and report on steps that could be taken for securing more efficient and uniform street lighting.
It was hoped within five years to eliminate all those weak bridges in the possession of railway and other statutory owners. Priority lists bad been prepared by 61 counties out of 93, for the reconstruction of 1,068 bridges, and the reconstruction of 226 would be put in hand during the current financial year. There were 1,385 level crossings on classified roads and he hoped the 75-per-cent. grants available would induce highway authorities to accelerate progress in elimination.
In comparing the advantages of the trolleybus system over those of tramways in respect of accidents and the flow of traffic, the Minister mentioned that London Transport had already formulated plans for the replacement of over 40 per cent. of its tramways by trolleybus services. Between 1929 and 1934, the mileage of routes operated by trolleybus throughout the country doubled, and now there were over 350 miles of route.
SPEEDING UP ROAD AND BRIDGE CONSTRUCTION.
A SHORT discussion took place on .1—Ithe Minister's statement, to which the Parliamentary Secretary, Captain Hudson, replied. Greater speed in road and bridge construction having been generally urged, Captain Hudson gave assurances that that would be achieved.
Referring to the position of thirdparty insurers in relation to those companies which had failed to meet their obligations, he said• the Department had been in touch with the Board of Trade and in the near future certain suggestions would be made by the Board to deal with this important subject.
RIBBON DEVELOPMENT BILL: CLAUSE PASSED BY ONE VOTE.
I N Committee in the House of Lords, a sharp attack was made on the proposal in the Restriction of Ribbon Development Bill to permit highway authorities compulsorily to acquire land for road purposes, for controlling development and for preserving amenities. The clause giving the power was carried by the Government by only one vote.
The Committee stage was completed without any substantial modification of the provisions of the Bill.
TROLLEYBUSES SAFER THAN TRAMS.
I N reply to a question relating to fatal accidents connected with London Transport's trolleybuses compared with those relating to the tramcars displaced by them, the Minister of Transport stated, on another occasion, that the number of accidents involving personal injury per 100,000 vehicle-. miles run was 6.09 in the case of trolleybuses and 9.3 for tramcars.
BIG ROAD IMPROVEMENTS IN OXFORDSHIRE.
As nearly half the fatal road accidents in Oxfordshire were found to occur on certain main roads representing less than 6 per cent, of the total mileage in the county, a proposal to improve the layout of 62 road junctions has been approved by the Minister of Transport for a grant, provided that the work is completed within 12 months.
COMMONS REJECTS WATERLOO BRIDGE MOTION.
cOR the third time, the House of'
Commons, on Monday night, refused to sanction borrowing powers asked for by the London County Council to pay for current expenditure on the demolition and rebuilding of Waterloo Bridge.
Mr. Hore-Belisha, at the outset of the debate, in explaining the position, stated that whatever decision the House might wish to reach, there could be no longer a question of a grant from National funds in aid of expenditure which the council decided to incur on its own motion and coutrary to the wishes of Parliament. Tne question whether borrowing powers should be granted was entirely one for the House of Commons to decide.
An instruction to the committee to delete the clause authorizing the borrowing of money for the Waterloo Bridge operations Was carried by 121 votes to 96. The alternative to borrowing over a long period is to place the current capital expenditure on the rates.