Britain: An official handbook > 1977

BRITAIN 1977: AN OFFICIAL HANDBOOK
intensive use of rolling stock and will enable British Rail to withdraw 20,000
obsolete freight vehicles. The board is concentrating on traffic particularly
suitable for carriage by rail, especially long-distance and bulk trainloa
traffic, often between specialised company terminals. Long-term contracts
are in operation for the carriage of cars, oil, china clay, milk, newspapers,
grain, chemicals, coal, steel, refuse, and sand and gravel aggregates. The
‘merry-go-round’ system, whereby trains are loaded and discharged auto¬
matically while in motion, is being used increasingly where there are heavy
flows of mineral traffic, such as the carriage of coal to power stations and
iron ore to steelworks. Express container services are operated by Freight-
liners Ltd., a company jointly owned by the National Freight Corporation
(see p. 304) and the British Railways Board (with 51 per cent and 49 per cent
of the shares respectively).
Discussions initiated by the Government are in progress between many ot
Britain’s largest firms and the British Railways Board on the potential for
transferring freight to the railways.
Private Railways There are several small privately owned passenger-carrying railways in
Great Britain, mostly operated on a voluntary basis and providing hmite
services for tourists and railway enthusiasts; the principal aim of many of
these railways is the preservation of steam traction. Some are narrow gauge
railways, while others run on former British Rail track.
Railways in
Northern Ireland
The Northern Ireland Railways Company Ltd., a subsidiary of the Northern
Ireland Transport Holding Company, operates the railway service on 200
miles (322 kilometres) of track. A £10 million scheme to streamline the
railway network in the Belfast area is in progress. The Belfast central line
was re-opened early in 1976 following modernisation and rationalisation o
stations. Delivery of the last of the new rolling stock to complete the scheme
is expected in 1977.
INLAND
WATERWAYS
In Great Britain there are about 3,000 miles (4,828 kilometres) of canal an
river navigations, of which about 2,000 miles (3,219 kilometres) are con¬
trolled by the publicly owned British Waterways Board. A further 500 miles
(805 kilometres) are managed by the regional water authorities and the
remaining 500 miles (805 kilometres) are controlled by local authorities,
independent commissioners, companies or charitable trusts. As part of the
Government’s proposals to reorganise the structure of the water industry
(see p. 274), the British Waterways Board might be merged within a centralised
structure to form the nucleus of a national navigation authority.
Inland waterways are important for land drainage and water supply and
are popular for recreation (see p. 442). Among the most popular canal and
river navigations are the river Thames (managed by the Thames Water
Authority); the Norfolk Broads (managed by independent commissioners);
and the Llangollen branch of the Shropshire Union Canal, the Oxford
Canal, and the Leeds and Liverpool Canal (managed by the British Water¬
ways Board). , rQ
In 1975 the turnover of the British Waterways Board amounted to £8-5
million. The board received government grants of £8 million in 1975, most
of which were used to maintain its waterways to statutory standards. Some
340 miles (547 kilometres) of the board’s waterways are commercial water¬
ways, maintained for use by freight-carrying vessels, and about 1,100 mi es
(1,770 kilometres) are cruising waterways, maintained for use by pleasure