§ Mr. Bagierasked the Secretary of State for the Environment what were the terms of reference given to Professor Peter Hall leading to his report, "Better Use of Railways"; and what was the cost to public funds.
§ Dr. GilbertThe terms of reference given to Professor Hall were
The aim of the programme of research will be to provide an extension of the work incorporated in Mr. Smith's January 1973 JTEP article ("An Economic Comparison of Urban Railways and Express Bus Services") by incorporating an explicit treatment of the following factors:1. Demand patterns and scale effects: to estimate the levels of demand which could be expected along a selection of corridor scenarios with different characteristics, and evaluate the effect of these different levels of demand on the average costs of busway and surface railways.2. Conversion costs: An assessment of the various costs involved in converting a surface railway into a busway. Specific treatment of the following items will be included:Modifications to bridges and stations.Track gauge and road width.Central barriers.Bus terminal facilities (ticketing, waiting room and other passenger facilities).New roads to give access to road network.Metering system for admission of cars to busways.Disruption costs, e.g., to commuters during conversion.148W3. An analysis of the theoretical labour requirements, subdivided by function, for the efficient running of the two different modes.4. Operating characteristics of busways: the analysis will specify: the optimum service frequency, the number of buses, and the length of route, in the light of the demand estimates in (1) above. The effects of loading delays on journey items, assuming a fare collection system consistent with the ticketing facilities costed in (2) above, will be assessed, and a practical procedure for dealing with breakdowns and accidents, in the light of road width specifications in (2) above and service frequency, will be defined.5. The analysis will test the sensitivity of the operational and economic performance of bus-ways to variation in the major parameters outlined above.The estimated cost of the work is £8,938.
§ Mr. Pattieasked the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will make a statement on his policy towards the recommendations contained in Professor Hall's study, "Better Use of Railways", a copy of which is in his possession.
§ Dr. GilbertThe report is still being considered although the Department has already indicated that it has a number of major reservations affecting the conclusions. Any decisions will only be made as part of the overall transport policy review after full consultation with management, unions, and other interests.