Briefs

• Central Railway is bidding to get the go-ahead from Transport Secretary Sir George Young for a £3bn 180-mile freight railway line linking the Midlands to the Channel Tunnel. •......

Labour Plans To Penalise Part Loads Gables Group Goes Under

• The Labour pm i o. %%arning hauliers who regularly run trucks part loaded that they will be more heavily taxed if it wins power. The party, which outlines its plans in an......

Erf Snapped Up By Western Star

by Miles Brignall • ERF, the UK's last high-volume independent truck manufacturer, is to be taken over by the Canadian truck maker Western Star in a cash deal valuing the......

• Western Star Emerged From The Doldrums Under The Ownership

and management of the Australian-born Terry Peabody. He took over the company, which is not much larger than ERF, in 1991 and quickly turned it into one of North America's more......