Irish Jesuit Province

The Milne Report on Transport in IrelandAuthor(s): John KingSource: The Irish Monthly, Vol. 77, No. 908 (Feb., 1949), pp. 54-60Published by: Irish Jesuit ProvinceStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/20515933 .

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THE MILNE REPORT ON TRANSPORT IN IRELAND

By JOHN KING

THE transport problem in Ireland has been in existence since

the first railway was built, and although in the last 100 years numerous commissions were set up in an effort to solve the

problem, no real progress was ever made. In 1948 a fresh effort was made to find a solution when Sir James Milne was appointed to review the position of rail, canal and road transport in Ireland

and to report on the steps necessary to secure the co-ordination of

the various transport agencies and to produce an efficient and

economic transport system. Within five months of the appointment of Sir James Milne he and his colleagues have produced a report which is a tribute to their ability, efficiency and industry. The

Report contains a survey of the present transport situation in the

country, a detailed examination of the operations, administration

and policy of Coras Iompair Eireann, and recommendations as to

how an efficient and economic transport system can be built on the

present tottering structure.

Most people will disagree with one or more of the recommendations as to future policy which are contained in the Report, but this is

only natural because there would be no problem if the solution were

obvious. The essential feature of a difficult problem is that any one of a number of courses may seem to provide a probable solution, and some of these may ultimately solve the problem without neces

sarily being the best or the correct course.

An analysis of the detailed examination of the affairs and policy of Coras Iompair Eireann which is contained in the Report is beyond the scope of this article. In considering this part of the Report

which undoubtedly shows that the affairs of the Company are in a serious condition the critic should consider very carefully the con

ditions under which Coras Iompair Eireann was formed, and has

been carried on, before passing judgment on the management. The

Company took over a railway system which for a number of years before the war had been unable properly to maintain its permanent

way, works or rolling stock and which had borne all the stress

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THE MILNE REPORT

imposed by five years of the emergency. The shortage of fuel and

the unsatisfactory quality of such fuel as was available, and the

inability to carry out normal maintenance work on the equipment had disastrous effects on the efficiency and earning capacity of the

system. Due to adverse operating conditions passenger train miles

worked had fallen from 5,714,523 in 1939 to 1,716,072 in 1945, and

passenger train miles per hour had fallen from 18.31 in 1939 to 13.51

in 1945.

Since the Company took over control it has had to contend not

only with the continuing effects of the war, but also with a strike of

its bus employees and a strike in the sugar factories which deprived it of valuable beet traffic. The fuel has deteriorated in quality and

is far short of the performance standard of pre-war coal and its

price has increased by over 140 per cent. Such materials as are

available for the maintenance and repair of the permanent way and

rolling stock have reached almost prohibitive prices and are far

from the best quality. Wages have increased to such an extent as

to form the major item in railway expenditure. In 1939 wages repre sented about 51 per cent, of railway costs as compared with

60 per cent, in 1947, and what will be a much higher percentage in

1948.

The Report contains one implied criticism of the capital expen diture at present being incurred by Coras Iompair Eireann which

cannot be let go without comment. It is implied in the Report that

the capital expenditure involved in the erection of the long-distance bus terminal at Store Street, Dublin, should not have been incurred at the present time, having regard to the financial position of the

Company. Dublin is the capital of a country which is trying to turn

itself into a tourist resort, and at the same time Dublin is the centre

from which all major long-distance bus routes radiate. Both tourists and the mere Irish, while waiting for long-distance buses, deserve to receive protection from the elements and a place where they can wait with some degree of comfort. The thousands of people

who have shivered in bus queues on Aston's Quay for the last seven or eight years can testify as to the necessity for a proper

bus terminal. It must not be forgotten that such a terminal cannot be added to at will like a meccano model and that it is always cheaper to do a job well if it is being done at all. For these reasons

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IRISH MONTHLY

Coras Iompair Eireann does appear to be justified in this capital

expenditure despite its delicate financial position. The recommendations designed to provide an economic, efficient

and co-ordinated transport system are rightly based on the premise that the railways should be the principal and dominant partner in

any such system. The ability of the railways to move large quan tities of freight and large numbers of passengers over long distances

and at high speeds without any corresponding increase in operating costs, and the fact that they represent a heavy fixed capital expen diture which must be written off as a total loss if the railways are

abandoned makes the railways the principal transport agency.

Furthermore, the Milne Report makes it clear that the Irish roads

are not fit to carry all the freight and passenger traffic, or the large modern freight vehicles which would become necessary, if the rail

ways were scrapped. It is estimated that an annual expenditure of

?30,000,000 would be required to improve the roads to, and maintain

them at, a standard which would ensure that all traffic could be

carried safely and efficiently. The basic principle of railway economics

is that all permanent way and rolling stock should receive the max

imum use all the time, and to ensure this the Milne Report recom

mends that railway operated road services should be used merely as ancillary or complementary to the railway services and that where

possible long-distance railway-owned road services which compete with the railway proper should not be continued.

It is refreshing to find that the authors of the Milne Report, who

are men with practical transport experience, favour the retention of

the branch railway lines. At all times the abandonment of branch

lines is a retrograde step as it represents a loss of fixed capital which cannot be replaced. Branch lines play an important part in railway economy as feeders to the main line services, and lines which show no profit on their own working prove to be profit-earning services

when the receipts which they bring to the main lines are taken into

account. This is demonstrated in the Milne Report by reference to the ten branch-line services operated by Coras Iompair Eireann.

These ten lines are estimated to show a loss in respect of the work

ing on the branches, the loss varying from ?930 in the case of the

Ballaghadereen branch to ?23,312 in the case of the Cavan and Leitrim

Railway. At the same time the estimated contributory value of the

traffic brought by these branch lines to the main line is ?325,163,

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THE MILNE REPORT

the contribution varying from ?4,260 in the case of the Banagher lines to ?75,427 in the case of the Valent?a branch.

The Report recommends that the new transport system be built

around a reconstituted Coras lompair Eireann. This new Company which would operate all public transport services in the country should have two additional directors who would be nominated by the

Government and who would have the right to veto capital expenditure. One of these new directors would be representative of labour. The

chairman of the Company would be deprived of his present powers and responsibilities and the responsibility for the administration of

the Company would be vested in the Board of Directors as a whole.

This new Company should then acquire the undertaking of the

Grand Canal Company. The Company and the Ulster Transport

Authority should jointly acquire the undertaking of the Great

Northern Company and of those minor lines which operate cross

border services. The fixed assets of these undertakings situate on

either side of the Border would be taken over by the Company and

the Ulster Transport Authority respectively, but they would be used

by the Great Northern Railway with a Board of Directors nominated

by the Company and the Ulster Transport Authority. The receipts and expenditure of all the cross-border lines would be divided on the

basis that, subject to an arbitrary allocation of receipts and expen diture relating to through services each party would retain the revenue

from and bear the direct costs of services within its own territory. The Company should concentrate on developing railways, provid

ing new and up-to-date rolling stock and equipment so as to give a

more frequent and rapid rail service for passengers and freight. Rail

way-owned motor services outside urban areas, both freight and

passenger, should be used merely as ancillary to the railways, pro

viding collection and delivery services and zonal services from central

rail-heads to local destinations and in places where the railway is

unduly circuitous. Rates for carriage by rail with collection and

delivery by road should be made sufficiently attractive to traders.

Independent road operators for reward should be restricted to local

services, to services in specified areas and to routes where they would

not compete with existing railways and canals. Contractual arrange ments should be made by the railways with these independent road

operators with a view to providing services in those areas not served

by railways and at the same time acting as a feeder service for the

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IRISH MONTHLY

railways. These operators should also be encouraged to provide services to meet local requirements.

The right of the private trader to use his own vehicles for the

carriage of his own goods is recognised, but it is suggested that this

right should be subject to such conditions as would prevent unfair

competition with the public services and that the interest of the indivi

dual trader should be subordinated to the interest of the public. In

order to secure this a new system of licensing is suggested whereby local licences paying a standard rate of duty should be issued which

would permit the vehicle to be used within a radius of fifteen miles

with such extension as the licensing authority having regard to local

circumstances should decide, and general licences, on which duty at double the standard rate would be payable, which would permit the vehicle to be used all over the country.

The Report states that the railways and canals bear an undue pro

portion of the cost of maintaining what are described in the Report as "the highways", that is to say, the permanent way and works

of the railways, the waterways and other works of the canals, and

the roads, as they have to maintain their own permanent way and

waterways and at the same time contribute to the cost of the upkeep of the roads.

It is proposed that a Central Highways Authority be set up which

would assume financial responsibility for the maintenance and renewal

of the railway permanent ways and works, of the canal banks, docks,

bridges, etc., and of the roads. The ownership of the railway tracks

and of the waterways would remain with the existing Companies and

the actual maintenance and renewal works would be carried out by them subject to the approval of the Central Highways Authority and

merely as agents for the Central Highways Authority. This authority would acquire the revenue to finance maintenance and renewal of

the highways by collecting a uniform charge per pound of the gross

receipts derived by the railways and canals from the conveyance of

passengers and freight and from road users by licence and fuel duties.

The licence duty on all road vehicles should be charged at a stan

dard rate of tax, and there should also be a tax on the oil fuel con

sumed by the vehicle which tax would tend to equate the amount

of tax paid by a vehicle to the use it made of the roads.

The first objection that can be made to this scheme concerns the

proposal that Coras Iompair Eireann should acquire the Grand Canal

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THE MILNE REPORT

Company. The operating problems and practice of railways are

entirely different from canals, and the work of operating the canals

requires a specialised experience and knowledge which the present staff have. The two forms of transport are not really competitive as the canal derives its main traffic revenue from classes of goods where speed of transport is less important than the reduced costs

of conveyance. The Grand Canal Company fulfils a very useful

purpose in transporting freight such as ale, porter, artificial manures, animal feeding-stuffs, turf, timber, firewood and coke, and it serves

a number of towns which are not served by a railway such as Kil

beggan, Stradbally, Rathangan, Portumna, Scariff, Eyrecourt, Wood

ford and Lanesborough. There is a real danger that if the Grand

Canal is worked as a department of Coras Iompair Eireann it will

be neglected and allowed to decay and a transport artery which

proved its value during the emergency will be lost to the country. The example of the Royal Canal must not be forgotten. This canal was acquired by a railway company in 1845 at a time when it carried a traffic of 112,181 tons and now the annual traffic on it does not

exceed 1,000 tons. In 1847 the Grand Canal carried 290,000 tons, and in 1947 it carried over 155,000 tons by canal and 43,404 tons by road.

The interests of the nation demand that the Canal Company should

preserve its entity and should operate as an independent unit. If

the method of relieving the Canal Company of portion of the burden

of maintaining the highways is adopted, and the restrictions on its

charging rights are modified, then there is no reason why the canal

should not continue as an economic unit supplementing the co

ordinated system of transport rather than competing with it.

The proposal that two Government nominees act as directors of

Coras Iompair Eireann and that the Central Highway Authority take

over financial responsibility for the maintenance of the highways will

not prove satisfactory. This gives the State power to interfere with

the internal working of a private company without giving the com

pany the full benefit of the credit or of the financial resources of the

State. The maintenance of the way and works of a railway system is too closely related to the operation problems of the system to have

them carried out satisfactorily by two independent bodies. The

division of responsibility will lead to confusion and disputes as to the

necessity for particular expenditure and will result in the public not

being able to fix responsibility on either authority. 59

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IRISH MONTHLY

As the Report says, a prerequisite for an efficient transport system is financial stability and no solution of the Irish transport problem can be found until this financial stability can be found. The root of

the Irish transport problem is that the country has an over-elaborate

transport system while its natural resources have not been developed to an extent sufficient to maintain the system in a proper state of

efficiency. Two thousand four hundred miles of railway, 415 miles

of canal and 49,000 miles of road cater for a population of about

3,000,000 of whom over 500,000 are concentrated in Dublin City. The railway and canal systems were designed and constructed at a

time when the population of the country exceeded 6,500,000. In

consequence of these facts the amount of traffic which was available

was never sufficient to give a reasonable return on the capital invested.

At present it seems that a very heavy expenditure will be necessary to provide proper facilities for traffic, and facilities which will pro

mote more traffic.

The railway system is a national asset which must be preserved in the interest of the nation. If the necessary financial stability can

not be secured without State interference, then it is the duty of the

State to take over the ownership and operation of Coras lompair Eireann. A programme spread over a number of years and involv

ing a heavy capital expenditure is required in order to put the system and its ancillary services on a proper working basis. This pro

gramme is beyond the means of the Company without State aid, and

will require the full resources of the State. The proper course would

be for the State to take over the Company, and develop the scheme

for co-ordination contained in the Milne Report with the modifications

outlined above.

30th December, 1948.

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