CHEAP TRANSIT AND THE RAILWAYS ACT, 1921. .
[To the Editor of the SPECTATOR.]
Snn,—On June 30th will be published the new scale of fares which the Railway Companies propose shall be the future rates for passenger travel.
Parliainenf has delegated the duty of deciding what is to be
the " Standard Fare " to the Railway Rates Tribunal. The charges for goods and passenger traffic must be such as will bring in an aggregate net revenue equal to the aggregate net revenues of the railways in 1918. What should be the propor- tion of the required revenues to be raised from goods traffic and what from passenger traffic will have to be ascertained. Traders, with their powerful organizations, will have unlimited financial resources to draw upon for measures ensuring that goods rates are assessed at a minimum. It is of the highest importance that passengers, who contribute nearly one-half of railway revenues, should have some organization to ensure that future fares are the lowest at which the railways can carry them.
The National Association of Railway Travellers, whose Chairman is Mr. J. D. Gilbert, D.L., M.P., which has hitherto fulfilled the functions of such an organization with marked success, is about to undertake this task. The examination of the Companies' proposals, fares, and the accounts submitted in support, and the maintenance of objections by leading counsel before the Tribunal, cannot be undertaken without a heavy expenditure and funds are urgently required.
On behalf of the Committee, I invite not only the financial support, but the active co-operation of all your readers who are interested in cheap transit, and who appreciate its importance as a factor in the social and industrial problems of modern life.
Cheques should be made payable to the Association, and crossed " Barclays Bank, 182 Fleet Street, B.C. 4."—I am,
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