HC Deb 12 February 1964 vol 689 cc375-6
41. Mr. Ridley

asked the Minister of Transport if he will give an undertaking that where bus services have been provided to replace a closed railway service those bus services will not be subsequently withdrawn.

Mr. Marples

Bus services provided to replace a railway service will be continued for so long as I consider they are needed.

Mr. Ridley

Can my right hon. Friend go a little further than that? Is he aware that it is not only a question of so long as he considers that these services are needed, but in so far as people who use them consider that they are needed? If he is prepared not to allow a closure unless alternative services are offered, can he not equally maintain that those services shall be continued until alternative services are provided?

Mr. Marples

It depends on how much the services are used. Some of the services are put on and used a great deal at the beginning and then their use tails off and hardly anyone travels by them. It would have to depend on the merits. There is an example in the constituency of my hon. Friend. Special services of buses were arranged on every Saturday during the summer last year. It was arranged that 252 services should run, but each bus carried an average of only 1.6 passengers. In those circumstances, I do not think it right or reasonable that a subsidy should be paid for the service to continue.

Mr. Blackburn

How can the Minister control this? If British Railways are allowed to close uneconomic services, how can the Minister say that bus services are not allowed to do the same?

Mr. Marples

If a railway service closes and a condition is attached by me to the consent saying that a bus service has to be run and it gives an indication of timing and frequency, that cannot be taken off by the Railways Board without my consent. I can also require by direction that the Railways Board should pay a subsidy in necessary cases.