§ 2.40 p.m.
§ LORD CONESFORDMy Lords, I beg leave to ask the first Question which stands in my name on the Order Paper.
§ [The Question was as follows:
§ To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they will explain why, in general, unprofitable railway services ought to be withdrawn and unprofitable air services ought to be maintained.]
§ THE PARLIAMENTARY SECRETARY, MINISTRY OF TRANSPORT (LORD CHESHAM)My Lords, Her Majesty's Government do not accept the noble Lord's premise. It is their policy to encourage the development of all forms of transport to meet the economic demands for their services. The maintenance of uneconomic services is, in general, a waste of resources which might be better employed elsewhere. There can be special circumstances, however, both on rail and in the air, where a particular service may meet a need which cannot be served in any cheaper way. There may then be a case for maintaining the service, even at an operating loss.
In their Report, The Reshaping of British Railways, the Railways Board have put forward proposals for adapting the railway system to cater for the traffics to which it is best suited and for shedding those services which can be better handled by other forms of transport. But there may well be cases where it is justifiable to retain uneconomic services for special reasons.
§ LORD CONESFORDMy Lords, may I thank my noble friend for his Answer, which will be carefully studied? Does it mean that Her Majesty's Government do not hold the view which my Question invited them to explain?
§ LORD CHESHAMBroadly speaking, my Lords, it does, because I thought that my noble friend's Question was an extremely neat and clever, but slightly misleading, paradox.
§ LORD SILKINMy Lords, will the noble Lord ensure that his reply is sent to Dr. Beeching?
§ LORD CHESHAMMy Lords, Dr. Beeching has been well aware of the contents of my reply, or the spirit in which it was made, right from the beginning.