Liner Trains

HC Deb 23 November 1966 vol 736 cc1369-71

10. Mr. Webster

asked the Minister of Transport if she will make a statement about the safety record of goods carried by liner trains as opposed to the safety record of goods carried in other ways by British Railways.

Mr. John Morris

Total claims paid in respect of damage and loss on freightliner services amount to approximately ⅓d. per ton on traffic carried. Though I cannot give a precise figure this is a very small fraction of the payments made in respect of comparable general merchandise carried on conventional services.

Mr. Webster

May I welcome the figure given by the Parliamentary Secretary, while regretting that this excellent service is not given greater availability because of the supine negative approach of the Ministry in allowing the unions to abrogate the functions of management by not allowing free access to liner train terminals?

Mr. Morris

Neither I nor my right hon. Friend accept for one moment anything that the hon. Gentleman has said.

Mr. Blaker

In the light of the hon. Gentleman's original reply, does he not think that it would be useful if he could persuade the Minister to make it clear that she is determined, as the Prime Minister said he was on 20th July, that liner train terminals should be open to all hauliers?

Mr. Morris

My right hon. Friend has stated that repeatedly.

18. Mr. Galbraith

asked the Minister of Transport what is the reason for the delay in bringing fully into operation the liner train system.

Mrs. Castle

Development of the freightliner system is making good progress. Five terminals are now in operation. The British Road Services are already using the London-Glasgow route and they hope to start on London-Aberdeen shortly. Two thousand four hundred and sixty containers were carried in August, 3,358 in September, and 3,908 in October.

Mr. Galbraith

Is the right hon. Lady aware that she simply has not answered my Question? I asked her to tell the House the reason for the delay in bringing the liner train system fully into operation. All that she has done is read out a lot of figures, really repeating an answer given to one of my hon. Friends earlier on. Why is there this delay, in view of the fact that the Prime Minister said on 20th July that this was going to go ahead on the basis of—

Mr. Speaker

Order. We have a lot of Questions on the Order Paper.

Mrs. Castle

One reason for the delay is that when the freightliner project was approved by the right hon. Member for Wallasey (Mr. Marples) he imposed restrictions on investment before agreement with the unions on open terminals and therefore the scheme did not start until a year ago. If the right hon. Gentleman had had the sense to get it going, and to let it spread by example, instead of trying to make an ideological fight out of it, we should have got somewhere.

Mr. Alexander M. Lyon

Is one reason for the delay that relationships with the N.U.R. have been exacerbated by party political sniping by hon. Gentlemen opposite?

Mrs. Castle

I say in all seriousness to the House that, if we are all united in wanting to make a success of these freightliners and to proceed to their expanding use by industry as a whole, it would be wise to allow the agreements to proceed as they are doing step by step. As the Prime Minister said, we prefer to do this by voluntary agreement, and we are proceeding to do it. I suggest that we allow the voluntary agreements to work as they are doing successfully.

31. Mr. Fortescue

asked the Minister of Transport what action she is taking to ensure that the activities of the British Transport Docks and the British Railways Freightliner Depot, situated within a few hundred yards of each other at Garston, are co-ordinated, in order to further her liner train policy.

Mr. John Morris

The Railways Board consult the appropriate Harbour Authorities about the siting and use of freight-liner terminals near ports. They are in close touch with the British Transport Docks Board and I am sure that full advantage will be taken of the opportunities offered at Garston.

Mr. Fortescue

Is the hon. Gentleman aware that there is a daily containerised service between Garston Docks and Belfast, that every container passes within one hundred yards of the entrance to the freightliner depot into and out of the docks and that absolutely no contact has been made between the two managers of the two nationalised undertakings to attract this traffic to the freightliners?

Mr. Morris

I am not aware of the lack of co-ordination to which the hon. Gentleman referred and I will certainly look into the question, but I understand that a relatively small percentage of traffic at present passing through Garston Docks is suitable for transfer to freight-finer trains. I will certainly bear in mind what he had to say.