| KINGSTON, June 24 (JIS): |
|
Opposition Spokesman on Transport, Mike Henry
has urged the Government to broaden its outlook on the restoration
of the railway service to include capitalizing on its corridor value,
its Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) and the leasing of the lines
on a time and use basis. The Member of Parliament for Central Clarendon made the suggestions during his contribution to the 2004/05 Sectoral Debate in Gordon House on Wednesday (June 23). He pointed out that the railway as it existed had several values including the corridor value, which he said could be exploited if the Government leased the corridor for the laying of cables for the transporting of data. Mr. Henry suggested that Government should examine the use of the tracks for the laying of cable for the transmission of data and the use of the air corridor for the transmission of data by laser on a sight-to-sight basis. Turning to the IPR value of the railway, Mr. Henry said that it could be marketed as the first overseas steam railway and for its architectural designs. “The history of the railway alone has enormous value as an IPR, don’t develop it yourself, licence the name and the historical value to a licensing company and charge a percentage of income for the franchise,” he recommended. Continuing,
he said, “by this approach, you spread the infrastructure
cost across specific cost centres, each of which can carry a different
return cost and indeed cross subsidize each other for the visitor
will ride at US$20 and the commuter for US$2.00”. |
