HC Deb 11 August 1920 vol 133 cc426-7W
Mr. STEVENS

asked the Minister of Transport (1) what is the tonnage of general merchandise traffic collected and delivered or collected or delivered by the railway companies; what are the receipts per ton-mile from general merchandise with and without collection and delivery; whether the amount which he allocates in his published statistics as cost of collection and delivery is the full actual cost to the railway companies for the services of collection and delivery, including overhead charges, or how the estimated amount is ascertained; whether he is satisfied that an ample allowance is provided in the Return to cover the full actual cost of collection and delivery which now many times exceeds the amounts allowed by the railway companies for these services when the collection and delivery rates were formulated;

(2) the full cost per ton, including overhead charges, incurred by any main line railway company for the road haulage of collected and delivered or collected or delivered traffic; in particular, can he supply the cost per ton so incurred by the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway Company; and can he ascertain whether the railway companies have this information as part of their ordinary trading records?

Mr. NEAL

The returns from the controlled railways in Great Britain show that the tonnage of general merchandise carted during the four weeks ended 29th February, 1920, was approximately 2,567,000 tons. The gross receipts per ton-mile from general merchandise during the same period were 2.759d. and excluded the cost of collection and delivery 2.394d. The amounts allocated to cost of collection and delivery of merchandise traffic are those provided under the Railway Companies (Accounts and Returns) Act, 1911, as set out in Abstract F. of Schedule, and do not include all overhead charges or any allowance for interest on capital. The figures supplied by the Lancashire and Yorkshire Company show that their average cost per ton of carting merchandise traffic during the four weeks ended 29th February, 1920. was approximately 5s. per ton.