1945:I got into the bus full oftaxpayerswho were giving some money to ataxpayerwho had on histaxpayer's stomach a little box which allowed the othertaxpayersto continue theirtaxpayers'journeys. I noticed in this bus ataxpayerwith a longtaxpayer's neck and whosetaxpayer's head bore ataxpayer's felt hat encircled by a plait the like of which notaxpayerever wore before. Suddenly the saidtaxpayerperemptorily addressed a nearbytaxpayer,complaining bitterly that he was purposely treading on histaxpayer's toes every time othertaxpayersgot on or off thetaxpayers'bus. Then the angrytaxpayerwent and sat down in a seat fortaxpayerswhich anothertaxpayerhad just vacated. — Raymond Queneau, 'from Polyptotes' inExercises in Style,1945 (Eng. 1958)
2023March 8, Howard Johnston, “Was Marples the real railway wrecker?”, inRAIL,number978,page53:
The late Professor Pat White was an outspoken critic. In his 1986 bookForgotten Railways,he dismissed as smoke and mirrors the oft-used argument that 33% of rail routes carried only 1% of the traffic, as it ignores the fact that a third of the national road network also only carried 2% of cars and lorries. But unlike rail, road got away with it because no mention was made of how much it cost thetaxpayerto keep them usable.