LOCAL CHOICE? HOBSON'S CHOICE, WELSH BUSES AND TRAINS, TRANSPORT 2000'S EVIDENCE TO THE WELSH AFFAIRS SELECT COMMITTEE ON THE WELSH OFFICE GREEN PAPER, LOCAL CHOICE IN PUBLIC TRANSPORT

In an introduction welcoming the opportunity to comment on the Welsh office green paper, Transport 2000 states that further reduction in what is already a skeletal rail service will leave Wales very poorly served. Outside the industrial areas of the South, Wales is a rural economy, sparsely populated and poorer than the average for the United Kingdom. The green paper's proposals regarding the railways are said to offer the Welsh county councils a choice between (a) paying for rail services with the help of a central government grant which could be phased out after an initial period of years, or (b) substituting a bus service financed by British Rail out of the PSO (public service obligation) fund. Transport 2000 argues that both these options are unsatisfactory. In particular the seemingly more attractive bus substitution option has serious implications contrary to the public interest and would result in a much poorer quality of service. Maps are included in this report to illustrate how the proposals would affect the passenger rail network. The effects of deregulation and the economics of bus substitution are discussed. An alternative approach to the problems of the Welsh railways is outlined and a county by county analysis of the rail catchment in Wales is compiled in tables which also indicate new opportunities for extending the rail catchment. An appendix is included which gives a summary of transport 2000's response to the "buses" white paper. (TRRL)

• Corporate Authors:

  Transport 2000 Limited

  258 Pentonville Road
  London,   England 
• Publication Date: 1984-10

Media Info

• Features: Figures; References; Tables;
• Pagination: n.p.

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Administration; Bus transit; Buses; Coordination; Economic factors; Economics; Federal government; Financing; Local government agencies; Passenger trains; Policy; Public transit; Quality of service; Railroad transportation; Rural areas; Service discontinuance; Subsidies; Transportation
• Identifier Terms: British Rail
• Uncontrolled Terms: Integrated transportation systems
• Geographic Terms: United Kingdom
• Old TRIS Terms: Bus services
• ITRD Terms: 155: Administration; 1272: Bus; 263: Economics of transport; 244: Financing; 183: Government (national); 192: Local authority; 173: Policy; 744: Public transport; 1173: Rail bound transport
• Subject Areas: Economics; Law; Planning and Forecasting; Policy; Transportation (General); I10: Economics and Administration; I72: Traffic and Transport Planning;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00451238
• Record Type: Publication
• Source Agency: Transport Research Laboratory
• Report/Paper Numbers: Monograph
• Files: ITRD, TRIS
• Created Date: Nov 30 1985 12:00AM