§ 16. Sir R. Boothbyasked the Minister of Transport and Civil Aviation whether his attention has been drawn to the suggestion in the current report of the Electricity Consultative Council for the North of Scotland that an experiment should be made with battery rail-cars on one or more of the branch lines in the North of Scotland where it has recently been decided to discontinue ordinary passenger trains; and whether he will give a general direction to the British Transport Commission to consider this proposal.
§ Mr. Boyd-CarpenterI am informed by the British Transport Commission that this proposal has been considered very carefully in consultation with the North of Scotland Hydro-Electric Board, and a great deal of detailed investigation undertaken. The Scottish Area Board has decided that it would not be justified, in present circumstances, in going on with this experiment particularly as the potential running and maintenance costs of battery coaches would make little difference to the economics of branch lines.
§ Sir. R. BoothbyDoes my right hon. Friend really consider it an economic proposition to keep a number of branch lines open in the North of Scotland for goods traffic and to allow no passenger traffic upon them at all? Has my right hon. Friend's attention been drawn to recent experiments in Germany with battery rail-cars, which have been extremely successful and have competed economically with diesel engined cars? Will he reconsider the matter?
§ Mr. Boyd-CarpenterIt is impossible to generalise on the use of branch lines for goods only. There are clearly cases in which the line should be kept open for goods traffic only, but that depends upon the facts. As to the method of propulsion to be used on rails, that is primarily a matter for the British Transport Commission itself.
§ Sir R. BoothbyIn view of my right hon. Friend's extremely unsatisfactory reply, I propose to raise this matter on the Adjournment.