Border transport Mr. Marsh replies
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• The suggestion by transport consultant Mr. John Hibbs that the Edinburgh-London summer coach service might be diverted. through the Border towns has been noted by Mr. Richard Marsh, Minister of Transport, who will see that this receives further examination. This was revealed in a letter sent by Mr. Marsh to Mr. David Steel, MP. after the Minister had studied the report "Transport in the Borders" (CM last week).
Mr. Marsh was not very hopeful, however, that the necessary re-scheduling would be
worthwhile; "as Mr. Hibbs says, a train/bus service remains quicker than any through road service", he wrote. The Minister's reply was very detailed, running to nine pages. He pointed out that the British Railways Board had devised a basic service using multiple unit trains on a single track, five trains a day calling at the four major Borders stations only. This service would, however, call for a grant aid of at least 11d per passenger mile—in other words a subsidy of well over f 'I per single iourney.