Even in the absence of improved facilities and practices at the pits, rail costs could be reduced by about 6s. per ton on the average length of haul, and if the pits consigned coal to depots in train-load quantities, so as to eliminate the initial rail collection and marshalling, a further 1s. 6d. per ton could be saved on direct cost.
Such changes would be in the best interests of the Coal Board, the railways, and coal consumers, because the potential savings are large enough to improve the competitiveness of the first two and to give a worthwhile reduction in the delivered price of coal. For the same reason, the changes will be beneficial to the coal trade as a whole, but may not be welcomed by all individual merchants, especially some of the smaller ones.
A number of coal concentration depots of the type envisaged have already been established and schemes for others are being developed. It is very much in the interests of the railways to accelerate progress in this direction, but it would not be wise for them to provide the depots themselves. By doing so, they would commit themselves, even further than at present, to fixed investment in a business which they do not control. Therefore, although the railways will encourage and facilitate the establishment of concentration depots, they will not normally invest in them. They will, however, induce concentration by a rapid progressive closure of the smaller stations, a process which is also necessary on other grounds.
In this last connection it needs to be stressed, once again, that the cost figures quoted do not include system cost, and that this may be very great on lightly used branch lines where many of the smaller stations are to be found.
Mineral Traffic
For the purpose of the traffic studies, this mixed class of traffic was combined with general merchandise. Therefore, not a great deal need be said about it as a separate class.
As in the case of coal, a considerable proportion of this traffic, in particular that comprised of hulk minerals, is carried in block trains. The more heterogeneous remainder is carried by wagon movement and is distinguishable from the greater part of general merchandise traffic only by rather arbitrary definitions. Since some of the freight classed as general merchandise also lends itself to bulk movement, there is little reason to treat the two classes separately for present purposes.
It is worth mentioning, however, that the movement of bulk minerals provides some of the best examples of really efficient use of rail transport. Some big flows are carried in large trains of special wagons, served through efficient terminals, and yield profits to the railways and very low freight rates to the customers. They serve to show what could be done with coal.
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