BRITISH RAILWAY CHARGES [To the Editor of the SPECTATOR.] SIR,—British
railway charges are, approximately, three times higher than abroad. The consequence is that millions of tons of foreign agricultural produce are being brought by rail and sea to London, Hull and our other highly populated coastal towns (where practically all are consumed without paying English railway rates) cheaper than they can be sent above twenty or thirty miles from our own countryside to the same places—conditions which also apply to iron, steel and other manufactured goods. Obviously, this anomaly in transport costs not only places a serious handicap on all our basic industries, but results in a very heavy loss of " cream " traffics to the railway companies.
The principal reasons for the excessive level of these charges are the antiquated and ludicrous methods of working which British railways alone continue to pursue, and which may be briefly summarized as under :— (1) The failure of the railways to abolish privately owned wagons, which create a method of working long since discarded for its enormous wastefulness by all other railways. The sorting, marshalling, and return-empty haulage of these 750,000 vehicles, which (with the exception of short-distance export coal traffic) would be almost totally avoided under the railway ownership of the trucks, unnecessarily doubles the expense of operating the goods train services.
(2) The continued building of uneconomical ten-ton and twelve-ton trucks instead of twenty-ton and forty-ton wagons, which make for an economy of 50 and 75 per cent. respectively in shunting, train mileage and other working expenses—and which are in general use abroad.
(3) The running of some thousands of excursions every month because, owing to the dearness of ordinary fares, all the ordinary trains are travelling nearly empty between the same places—thus unnecessarily duplicating the cross- country passenger train services.
From the foregoing explanations it will be gathered that, if the railway companies resolutely overhauled their incon- gruous and old-fashioned methods of working, and conducted operations on sound and economical lines, rates and fares could be reduced to a very low level, which would not only restore prosperity to all the basic industries, but would enable the railways to compete much more successfully with their motor rivals.—I am, Sir, &c.,
E. R. B. ROBERTS.
London, S.W. 2.
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