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Six years apart, these two incidents are inextricably,
though illogically linked. In 1970 the writing was on the
wall. Some of the MER's shortcomings were so shocking and so
needless that something would have to be done. After
countless years producing some sort of deficit that would
worry even the International Monetary Fund, the Board, in
its wisdom, decided to suspend operations to Ramsey. One
eminent Member touchingly voted for closure through
"allegiance to the Board" (sic.) The logical inference was
that the Ramsey line had been responsible for past ills; the
magic wand had been waved and all would be put right. The
measure taken to correct the malaise was in fact irrelevant.
In medical terms the Board had attempted to cure chronic
toothache by amputating the right leg. The Ramsey Line was
used as a scapegoat by the MER Board to explain away its own
glaring incompetence.
What are the abuses that have plagued the railway for so
long ? What are the germs that seem endemic in this once
healthy body ? Primarily the fault lies with the management
and direction and the situation has deteriorated over the
last ten years. If a man is honest, sincere, popular and
experienced, he does not make a good director or manager
unless he has requisite intellectual ability. The proverb of
the silk purse seems apposite. Experience should be the
factor in determining a candidates worth but so should lots
of other things. It can be reasonably assumed that the
M.E.R. would not be in a such a sad state today if more care
had been taken. In the world of business, a management is at
the mercy of the Directors - so too in Association Football.
The tragedy is that for too long the members of this
particular Board have been mostly average men with a below
average knowledge of railways. Many, to be quite candid,
have been hopeless. No board member has been able to
identify the faults; and if he could he would have no idea
how to correct them. At a recent election meeting of an
unsuccessful candidate in Ramsey, the author was assured -
by clear implication - that the fault lay entirely with the
management; remarkably this allegation was made by a then
Board member. In some naïve and misguided way this
gentleman was trying to justify his own position.
During the 5 years when I was employed by the M.E.R. as a
seasonal conductor, overstaffing was rife. Throughout those
years (1970 - 74) extra conductors and drivers were always
taken on 'just in case'. Often they stayed in the shed all
day, or sat eating ice cream at Laxey Station for hours on
end. I was often allowed home three-quarters of an hour
early because there was 'nothing doing'; wonderful at the
time, but tragic in retrospect. And I was being paid out of
public funds. The blame for this situation lies squarely
with the management. It would be interesting to know how
many thousands of pounds could have been saved with an
efficient staffing policy. To be frank, in 1970 and 1971 I
shouldn't have been there at all, nor in fact at least five
others.Still more money was lost by operating an obsolete
timetable which basically had not altered since World War 1
- neither had the wording on publicity handouts. Cars
charged about merrily at all sorts of peculiar times, often
devoid of passengers. Management mourned the days gone by
when the queue at Groudle was 'x' miles long; but,
predictably, nobody did anything about it.
Not only was the timetable wasteful, but so too was the
roster to work it. In 1972 one shift lasted only 6 hours and
45 minutes but conductor and motorman had to be paid an 8
hour minimum. This abuse had been going on for years,
undisturbed. On the same shift too, the same staff often
spent as much as 1 hour and 45 minutes standing around at
Douglas, Laxey or Ramsey, and spent as little as 5 hours
actually in motion. Indeed it was often said that any Time
and Motion study expert investigating the M.E.R. would
suffer immediate cardiac arrest. Many thousands of pounds
must have been lost through these wasteful practices; no
wonder the deficits were so appalling.
The Manx Electric Railway has always assumed a divine right
to attract passengers. Hence advertising has been almost
non-existent. After all, everyone knows about the M.E.R.
even people from across the water. In fact, since
nationalisation the M.E.R. has never carried its full
passenger potential. Some imaginative and well directed
advertising could have brought in thousands of extra pounds
over the years. Ironically the standard improved marginally
during 1976 after the Ramsey line had closed. By then the
horse had well and truly bolted. Furthermore, preserved
railways on the mainland had proved beyond question that the
sale of souvenirs, etc., can be a highly lucrative form of
income. What has the M.E.R. done ? Virtually nothing apart
from the items on sale at the Snaefell Summit Hotel.
Instead of mourning the good old days, the M.E.R. should be
obtaining concessions to regenerate dwindling traffic,
particularly during the evenings. In 1969 Highlander Coaches
sought and obtained a concession to carry patrons from
Douglas to the Beach Hotel's Ocean Bar Cabaret in Ramsey.
These tours proved highly popular and two or three coaches
left Douglas every evening. Such arrangements would have
been ideal for the M.E.R. but seemingly no effort was made.
It would be interesting to know, in addition, how much
pressure was exerted to stop Garwick Glen from falling into
private hands, and Groudle from falling into dereliction.
Both these glens were popular destinations with visitors for
they combined fine scenery and satisfactory amusements with
a reasonable fare. Nowadays the M.E.R. is dead between
Douglas and Laxey and many thousands of passengers have
probably been lost with the demise of the medium-fare
destinations.
At the beginning of the 1970s four broad policy choices
faced the M.E.R. Board:
1. To update the ancient stock and provide a fast, efficient
public utility.
2. To cater exclusively for tourists by promoting an all-out
Victorian tramway with parallel advertising and
souvenirs.
3. To operate a modern service for commuters and residents
but to maintain some historic cars for tourist use, or
4. To do nothing.
True to form, the Board did nothing. It floundered
hopelessly in mid-stream, offering a service that was geared
neither towards the holidaymaker nor the resident.
So the Ramsey line carried the can. It was supposed to be
expensive to operate, in need of urgent repairs; in brief
non-viable. But no efforts were made to economise. Many
years ago the Ramsey line should have been made single track
with passing loops, and any board or management which
alleges such as system would be unworkable is in fact
testifying to its own incompetence. The Isle of Man Railway
has been getting along quite happily with a single line for
over a century. Ramsey station was always over-staffed, and
many hundreds of pounds were wasted each year. All tickets,
such as they were, for few passengers emanated from Ramsey,
should have been issued by conductors on the cars. Nor were
any efforts made to economise on winter running except to
reduce the services. Rapid Transit suggested
one-man-operation but of course no notice was taken. For the
M.E.R. conductor the Winter was a godsend. Perched for most
of the time over a warm heater with a good magazine or
paperback, and receiving adequate supplies of biscuits and
apples from a philanthropic passenger, his concentration was
only disturbed only by the jerk of the car or the switch of
the trolley.
Pressures on conductors were never great apart from the
pressures of carrying vast sums of the Board's money around.
No proper system has ever been devised for the paying in of
takings, and it was quite normal for a conductor to carry
£70 around until he had the opportunity to pay in. It
is difficult to imagine such a lax and dangerous being
allowed in private enterprise, even in the Isle of Man.
Maybe a lot of money could be saved by a proper paying-in
system. Certainly, it was easily lost.
The answer should have been to identify the abuses and put
them right, not to pick on a guiltless scapegoat. But, with
the Railway on the point of total collapse, there is at
least hope for the future. For the first time ever we have a
M.E.R. Board of considerable calibre. Gone at least is the
deadwood of the last regime, mercilessly swept away on a
wave of public resentment. The Ramsey line must be re-opened
immediately and some long standing faults corrected. The
failures of past decades have not destroyed the nucleus of
the Railway; they have merely overlaid it with the alluvial
slime of incompetence. With a new team of decision makers
the M.E.R. should at least be able to do itself and its
staff the justice it deserves. It certainly deserves a
chance.
First Published In Mann Tram No. 17 - February
1977
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