Britain's smokescreen the Serpell report.
This report, drawn up by an inquiry team headed by Sir David former member British Rail Board, recommends a series of options for the Tories to consider.
Its most suicidal proposal is to cut the rail network the 11000 mies 1,600. This is where no subsidy would be required Such would have the East coast line terminating Newcastle; line SCEVIH!
but going no further; a line terminating al and proportionate cuts in the South East Such is the logic of the would take soilories lo anarchy carry the same as one train trainload passengers. It needs little imagination to the result of such a plan.
But even if this option is rejected, likely to utilise the other options to block the proposed electrification gramme. Other recommended include extensive use of single track THUS slowing down further.
These argued on the grounds of THE TORIES are planning the biggest cutbacks railways massacre in 1966. This is to be done behind a of rejection ridiculous and obscene recommendations of Serpell; of the the present of track to the size plan at West coast Glasgow Edinburgh link in Cardiff; of envisage the Tories are procutbacks trains proposals since the of the the supposed massive subsidy received by Yet, as the Rail Board itself pointed out, Britain has most cost railway in Europe sidv s a third of French railways and one half German However, this cost ef tectiveness has achieved at the expense of vicious attacks railworkers and a slashing of investment to the bone. BR has a lower level of investment per kilometre than any country Europe. vestment is a mere 350m The electrification gramme would boost this to £600.
Increase diesel and 60 BR's feet electrics 10.000 are over s old. Just to replace them needs an increase in investment of 30 percent over the next 10 years.
The entire shunting locomotives was between 1956 and nothing has been were too few locos to cop number of trains.
The Beeching -speed most changed Only has turned effective Its subof of 1982.
been on train yearly in- sent pro- tion ly as tegrated needed percent of cent of of debate of boost 81447 and It 1970-19, mere programmed planning -shortage replacement rails means miles of track will have to be closed by 1990 for safety reasons unless policy is 16 locos built in 1979, the year in which nearly E15m of profitable freight traffic was away because of lack of rolling stock. 54 Treigne yaras were closed between 1980 and the end The British Rail workshops are, absurdly, under continual threat of closure. Benefit The inefficiencies and wastefulness of capitalism are highlighted by the pretransport which encourages one seccompete against another, instead of utilising all the resources as fulpossible An transport system that works for people, not the profits of capitalists, -unC opened up Sherpell, the Labour Party should announce such a policy including a massive programme of public inwhich steel production electric consumption and therefore demand for coal.
should also plans tionalise the road haulage allow proper including the
be an April budget, shows that it is now virtually certain that there will be general this year. place against the background literally catastrophic economic crisis, this general election will determine course of British politics for a decade or more. In this article Thornett at Cowley without a fight This has to be set against a very small list of successful struggles.
In virtually every one of the cases Taking mentioned above, role of the union bureaucrats the top TUC leaders in particular -was decisive in demobilising defeating the struggles. the graphic cases were those healthworkers and of ASLEF. Over the treacherous and and The most ot ine Photo: GRAHAM COOKSON