HL Deb 13 April 1967 vol 281 cc1398-401

3.7 p.m.

LORD SEGAL

My 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 what representations have been made to British Railways protesting against the hardships caused by the closure of the down platform at Oxford Station, and what steps are now to be taken to alleviate these hardships.]

LORD SHEPHERD

My Lords, a number of complaints have been received, both by the Railways Board and by the Department, from people affected by this change. My right honourable friend the Minister of Transport has obtained from the Board a full report of the reasons for it, and has been told that this was part of an overall scheme of rationalisation at Oxford Station aimed at achieving economies in operation. This is essentially a matter of management for the Railways Board, but my right honourable friend has referred the question to the area Transport Users' Consultative Committee under section 56(4) of the Transport Act 1962. This section enables the Committee and the Central Transport Consultative Committee, if they think fit, to make a recommendation on which the Minister can act.

LORD SEGAL

My Lords, I thank my noble friend for that reply. Is he aware that this is not a matter of management but of mismanagement; that a very gross blunder has been committed by someone, and every section of the community—railwaymen, trade unions, taxi drivers and the whole travelling public—has been forced to suffer by it? This closure will involve British Rail in a far greater loss than the £2,000 or £3,000 which they hope to gain by it.

LORD SHEPHERD

My Lords, I do not think that in the circumstances I should in any way follow the noble Lord in his supplementary question about whether this was a management or some other act of the Railways Board. I have sufficient confidence in the Board to think that they would take everything into account and do what they thought right in the circumstances. I recognise, and so does the Minister, that there have been widespread complaints from a variety of persons who make use of Oxford Station. It is for these reasons that the matter has been referred to the Consultative Committee.

LORD SEGAL

My Lords, while accepting the confidence which my noble friend feels in this Board, may I ask whether it would not be an act of wisdom to divert one ticket collector and a a few taxis quietly to the down platform whenever a train arrives, and so restore to British Railways a little of the good will they have lost?

LORD SHEPHERD

My Lords, this is surely a matter for management and the Railways Board, and the authorities in the district. I cannot believe that this is a matter for the Government.

LORD CONESFORD

My Lords, are the Government aware that British Rail are here displaying a contemptuous indifference to the comfort and interests of the public which would not be tolerated in any private body? Am I right in thinking that this is a matter in which the Government very properly would have a concern? Having said that, I am not of course critical of the immediate steps which the Government have taken and which may well be the right first steps.

LORD SHEPHERD

My Lords, sometimes I get a little tired of some of the sweeping accusations which are made against the Board. There may be circumstances in which a decision could have been avoided or could have been adjusted to meet the convenience of people. I have heard similar complaints regarding other closures. I heard a complaint not so long ago, in much the same sweeping terms as those used by the noble Lord, about a possible closure of a railway line, where in fact it would have been cheaper for the Board to provide all the passengers who used that line with a motor car. There would still have been a saving in the course of a year.

LORD LINDGREN

My Lords, is my noble friend aware that it would be impossible to raise any matter relating to private enterprise here irrespective of the effect of any act upon the community?

LORD SHEPHERD

I think that my noble friend is right.

LORD BRIDGES

My Lords, are the Government aware that any scheme which forbids entry to the down platform at Oxford Station from the street before the tunnel between the up and the down platforms has been rebuilt and lifts for luggage provided not only results in very great inconvenience but also discourages large numbers of potential passengers from travelling to and from Oxford by train?

LORD SHEPHERD

My Lords, this is bound to be one of the questions that the Committee to whom this matter has been referred by my right honourable friend will take into account.

VISCOUNT DILHORNE

My Lords, can the noble Lord at least give an assurance that there is no intention to introduce into Oxford the practice at Cambridge of having only one platform in use?

LORD SHEPHERD

My Lords, having been to neither university nor resided in either of those cities, I should not like to follow the noble and learned Viscount.

LORD SEGAL

My Lords, without wishing in any way to add to the tiredness of my noble friend, may I ask him whether, in view of the strong feeling about this matter, not only locally but also in certain quarters of your Lordships' House, he will be good enough to use his own influence with the Minister concerned to urge the Board to have another look into this matter?

LORD SHEPHERD

My Lords, in the circumstances, I will not. My right honourable friend has acted rightly. She has referred this matter to a Committee set up by the previous Administration, and when she has their report she will decide what steps are to be taken.

LORD BRIDGES

My Lords, may I refer to a connected matter? Are Her Majesty's Government aware that taxi drivers who for the past three years have paid a fee of 22s. 6d. a year for the privilege of plying for hire at Oxford Station are now being asked by the railway authorities to pay an annual fee of £26 for next year and the ensuing years? Is this increase of 2,200 per cent. in conformity with the Government's prices and incomes policy?

LORD SHEPHERD

The supporters of Oxford Station are numerous this afternoon. I do not wish to make any comment on the point the noble Lord has made. I believe that he will have the opportunity of making a similar point in front of the Committee.