It should be clearly recognised that the problem presented by the London suburban rail services is not one which the railways can solve alone. Their problem is part of the whole problem of London congestion, and measures which would improve their situation, such as staggering of hours and dispersal of employment to the periphery of the metropolitan area, are beyond their power and responsibility. Also, unless the control of fares in the London Traffic Area is exercised with more regard to the true nature of the problem, the position will be further worsened by the continued suppression of normal economic forces.
Suburban Services Outside London
No city other than London is nearly so predominantly dependent upon suburban train services. All of them are served by public road transport which carries a high proportion of the total daily flow, and the movement and parking of private. transport is still sufficiently free to make it a possible alternative to rail. Also, none of the services is loaded as heavily as many London services.
As in the case of London, fares on these services feeding other cities are low, sometimes very low, and none of them pays its way. There is no possibility of a solution being found, however, merely by increasing or by reducing fares. Increases in fares on rail services alone would drive traffic to available alternative modes of travel and yield little increase in revenue, if any. Decreases would increase traffic, but short peak periods of traffic at even saturation level would not support the services with fares lower than at present. Therefore, if the services are to be regarded as essential, the municipalities concerned must join with the railways and bus interests to evolve a co-ordinated system of services, with due regard to the economics of both forms of transport. It is, for example, illogical to operate subsidised municipal bus services in competition with unprofitable railway services, without any attempt to co-ordinate them.
If, on the other hand, the services are not regarded as essential and coordination is not found possible, the sound commercial course is for the railways to risk pricing themselves out of the business and then, if necessary, close the services.
The right solution is most likely to be found by 'Total Social Benefit Studies' of the kind which are now being explored by the Ministry of Transport and British Railways jointly. In cases of the type under consideration it may be cheaper to subsidise the railways than to bear the other cost burdens which will arise if they are closed. If this happens, however, there should be no feeling that the railways are being propped up by such a subsidy because of a commercial failure.
Mails and Parcels
The regular passenger train services are the principal means of conveyance for Post Office parcels and letter mails, as well as for the railways' own parcels service.
Schedules of services, agreed with the Post Office, are laid down for the conveyance of the majority of letter mails, and extend over seven days of the week. Also, Post Office letter sorting vehicles run nightly on some routes, the average number per week being 80. Letter mails are loaded into and unloaded from train vans by Post Office staff, and are transferred by them at intermediate stations if necessary.
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