NATIONALIZED OPERATORS TO GET 3 PER CENT. INTEREST?
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THE terms of compensation for railI way shareholders, announced by the Government last week, may afford some indication to road transport operators of the value of the stock that they would receive if their undertakings were nationalized.
Railway stockholders will receive British Transport 3 per cent. Guaranteed Stock, 1978-1988, of an amount equal, pound for pound, to the value of their old securities on January I. The Chancellor of the Exchequer forecast early last year that the new stock would carry a rate of interest of 2i per cent.
Although railway shareholders are to be paid 3 per cent. interest, there is no guarantee that road transport operators would not receive a lower rate. Under the Transport Act, regard must be had. in fixing interest, to the market value of Government securities at the date of transfer. During recent months the prices of gilt-edged " securities have declined.
A road transport operator whose busi • ness is transferred to , the Transport Commission and is valued at not more than £20,000, May require the Commission to pay up to £2,000 in cash. The remainder must be taken in stock.
PRIORITY FOR GOODS BY-RAIL
IN a broadcaSt on January 1,. Mr. I Alfred Barnes, Minister of Transport, made it clear that the railways were to give priority to coal and merchandise traffic, and that passenger traffic would be a secondary consideration. He thus provided an answer to those who have been advocating further restrictions on the operation of coaches by a reduction in their fuel allocation.
Mr. Barnes said that transfer of the railways to the Transport Commission involved 11,000 motor vehicles and 25,000 horse-drawn vehicles. London Transport property, which also passed to the Commission, included nearly 7,000 motorbuses, 1,700 trolleybuses, and 900 trams.
BASIS OF MAINTENANCE
APAPER entitled "The Fundamentals of Maintenance Systems which Major W. H. kothwell, M.I.Mech.E., M.I.R.T.E., read recently before the members of the Institute of Road Transport Engineers at Edinburgh, will be repeated by him at the fifth lecture meeting of the Scottish Centre, Glasgow, on January 12, at 7.30 p.m. The venue will be the Institution of Engineers and Shipbuilders, 39, Elmbank Crescent, Glasgow.
A precis of the paper is given on page 595 of this issue.
IGNITION CABLES RENEWED A READY MADE ignition cable ri renewal kit on the lines successfully exploited in America has been introduced to this country by Rornae Industries, Ltd., The Hyde, Hendon, London, N.W.9.
Each lead is cut to length and fitted with suitable terminals for sparking plugs and distributor. The present range includes sets for the Ford V8 commercial vehicle, the Fordson Major tractor, and the Commer Q25.