§ THE EARL OF CROMARTIEMy Lords, I beg leave to ask the Question which stands in my name on the Order Paper.
§ [The Question was as follows:
§ To ask Her Majesty's Government what progress has been made by British Railways since March, 1969, in replacing the 330,000 short-wheelbase goods wagons by others having a 15-foot wheelbase and being provided with suspension of improved design.]
§ LORD MOWBRAY AND STOURTONMy Lords, I am informed that the Railways Board have been able to make steady progress in reducing their large fleet of short-wheelbase wagons, whose number should be reduced to about 260,000 by the end of this year. Since January, 1969, some 3,200 new wagons, of 15-foot or more wheelbase and with modern suspensions, have been introduced. The short-wheelbase fleet continues to run under strict operating rules, and a number of measures are being introduced or are under development to improve performance.
§ THE EARL OF CROMARTIEMy Lords, while thanking my noble friend for his Answer, which considering the course of these things is probably satisfactory, may I ask him how many derailments there have been on British Railways since I first put this subject on the Order Paper?
§ LORD MOWBRAY AND STOURTONMy Lords, I cannot give to my noble friend the exact answer that he has asked for. I can tell him, however, that in the first eight months of this year derailments of goods trains compared to the number in the first eight months of 1969 are 16 per cent. down. This is a trend in the right direction.
§ LORD POPPLEWELLMy Lords, can the noble Lord say whether the short-wheelbase wagons are kept off main line running and confined to sidings and the ordinary type of work?
§ LORD MOWBRAY AND STOURTONMy Lords, I cannot give the noble Lord 194 a complete assurance on that, but I think that the Railways Board are trying to do that as far as possible.
§ LORD SOMERSMy Lords, can the noble Lord tell me whether the new rolling stock will be bogey stock and whether it will be through-brake?
§ LORD MOWBRAY AND STOURTONMy Lords, of the new rolling stock which is coming on—there will, for instance, be 3,200 new rolling stock which was authorised to the Board last year by the Minister—about 20 per cent. will be bogey; the remaining four-fifths approximately will be double axle, and the through-braking will be done.
§ LORD MERRIVALEMy Lords, can my noble friend say when it is expected that the short-wheelbase wagons will be entirely replaced by modern wagons?—because they are completely obsolete and not in accordance with Continental standards.
§ LORD MOWBRAY AND STOURTONMy Lords, I cannot say when the short-wheelbase wagons will be completely removed, because they are still the vast majority of the fleet. What I can say is that experiments are going on at the moment to improve the suspension and braking force, and the Board are hoping for another report from their experts in the early part of next year. When they have this they hope to be able to go a long way towards making the performance of short-wheelbase wagons much better than it is now.
LORD REAMy Lords, can the noble Lord say whether the new wagons will have a greater tonnage than the recent short-wheelbase wagons?
§ LORD MOWBRAY AND STOURTONYes, my Lords.