THE LARGEST FLEET OF TROLLEY-BUSES.
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A Distinction Possessed by the West Hartlepool Authorities.
THill ambitious scheme formulated over four years ago by the West Hartlepool Corporation to replace, by easy stages, the whole of the tramways by either trolley-buses or motorbuses, was brought to fruition a few days ago, when the final tram -section—that from West Hartlepool to Seaton Carew—was converted to trolley-bus working. The municipality made its decision to adopt trolley-buses and motorbuses in place of the fixed-line method of transport at a time when trams were still popularly regarded as the only sound and economical method of coping with town traffic, but the results obtained on the earlier routes to be converted have provided ample proof of the fallacy of that idea.
It has been found in actual practice that the greater speed of the newer
forms of vehicle have brought about increased revenue, and that operating costs are appreciably lower than those for trams, the difference in some cases being as much as 3d. and 4d. per mile.
Quite the most interesting feature of the present system is that the West Hartlepool authorities possess the largest fleet of pneumatic-tyred trolleybuses of any operating authority in this country, and possibly in the world. As the result of experiments made by Mr. 3. H. Parker, the transport manager, in conjunction with well-known trolley. bus manufacturers, a tyre has been produced which stands up admirably te trolley-bus work. The West Hartlepo6 fleet is at present made up of about 3( Railless vehicles, and others are or order.