(a) Traffic receipts to 30.6.56. shown on Appendix
"A" attached.
(b) Future utilisation of units. The Chairman said that, having regard
to the cost of the units in operation and the cost to replace them by standard diesel
unts, it was not desirable simply to displace the present units and there seems no
prospect of them being taken over by any other Region. It is not desirable to
revert to steam working on this branch and at the moment there seems to be no
alternative but to continue with working by the present units.
The Chairman raised the point of the condition of the track and Mr.Butland
said it was shortly hoped to start an experiment with welding of rails into long
lengths, starting with a portion where concrete sleepers exist. This may give improved
running.
(c) Costs of operation. Noted that until recently the erratic availability
of the B.U.T. units had made a post-costing of diesel operation of this service
impracticable but the units had now been working with little of no interruption since
May last and there was a fair basis for an assessment of current costs.
The Chairman asked that a report be furnished to the Committee on the
basis of the present conditions, diesel compared with steam, treating the Watford -
St.Albans and Harrow - Belmont services as one combined service and showing also the
effect of substituting the existing B.U.T. units by standard diesel units. The
report should, in addition, include up-to-date information as to the reliability of
the diesel units since their introduction.
3. Bury - Bacup Scheme
(a) Traffic receipts to 30.6.56. shown on Appendix
"A" attached.
(b) Additional unit. Report in justification of additional unit will be
submitted shortly.
(c) Costs of operation. Mr.Nicholls stated that a post-costing of diesel
working on this line is now possible but the service has been in operation only since
6th February 1956 and the costing period is necessarily short. The Committee felt
that 12 months experience was desirable before a conclusive report was submitted but
in the meantime the Chairman requested that a broad assessment should be made, based
on present experience.
