Dr. Beeching May Start Liner Trains Against Union Opposition
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FROM OUR INDUSTRIAL CORRESPONDENT
As one of his last major acts before he relinquishes his job as chairman of the British Railways Board at the end of next month to return to Id, Dr. Richard Beeching is expected to order a start to his £100 m. project for liner-train freight expresses. And he will do it in spite of continued opposition by the National Union of Railwaymen to giving access to the terminals to private road hauliers.
Another 2+-hour long meeting between Dr. Beeching and the NUR leaders last week failed to bring the two sides any nearer agreement, and consisted of little more than a review of the 15-month-old dispute.
Faced with the other alternatives of giving in to the union demands or abandoning his scheme altogether, Dr. Beeching is now thinking of giving the n6 go-ahead to the scheme on his own terms and facing any troubles that may arise as a consequence. Rail chiefs believe that these will be only sporadic and will soon die down. But when this possibility was put to Mr. Greene, NUR general secretary, he commented: " Such an action would cause great concern to the membership affected."
Much of the work on the new terminals has already been done and a number of the special wagons needed for the liner trains have been built. The first service between Maiden Lane, in London, and Glasgow could, it is believed, be running before the end of the summer. And the inaugural service could be quickly followed by the other four services in the pilot scheme. However, by that time the consequences of Dr. Beeching's decision would have to be faced by his successor.