Lightweight 70-seater for Bombay
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THE prototype of a new double". decker, with a seating capacity of 70 and a gross laden weight of less than 12 tons, has been commissioned for service in Bombay. The Leyland Titan chassis is 27 ft. 6 in. long and the lightalloy body was built by Hyderabad AIlwyn Metal Works, Ltd.
A total of 175 of these chassis is to be supplied to the Bombay Electric Supply and Transport undertaking by Leyland Motors, Ltd.. through Ashok Leyland, Ltd., at an approximate cost of £500,000. The new vehicles are intended to provide an economic remedy to Bombay's peak-hour traffic problems, which increase as more and more people from outlying agricultural areas seek industrial employment in the city.
Maximum seating capacities of double-deckers at present used vary from 57-63 and the maximum length is 26 ft. The bodywork of the new 70-seater weighs 5,665 lb,, compared with 7,800 lb, of the older, shorter types. Except for some structural parts of the front and rear bulkhead, the bodies of the new vehicles are of light alloy.
Window frames are of stainless steel, • with i-in.-thick toughened safety glass. Seats are of light alloy, and the floor has been made of aluminium, instead of wood, to save 600 lb.
The undertaking's present fleet consists of 703 buses with a total carrying capacity of 39,079 passengers. By April, 1959, it is planned, there will be 878 vehicles to carry 53,858 passengers.
EXTRA VEHICLE TO MAINTAIN MILK DELIVERIES THE Yorkshire Licensing Authority I.last week added a vehicle to the B licence of L. F. Robinson, Ltd., Whitby, after an official of the Milk Marketing Board had stated that the vehicle was essential if Whitby's milk was to be delivered on time.
Mr. R. E. Paterson, for the company, said that they collected from 85 producers on the south side of Whitby for the Board. An average of 21m. gallons was collected every year, and from April-September there had been an increase of 20,000 gallons.
C.W.S. Dairies, Whitby, had transferred their premises from the south side to the north and this entailed an extra journey of 11 miles, invOlving crossing a bridge, There were serious delays in the summer, when Whitby's traffic was in a " chaotic " state. An A-licence vehicle had to be used to carry additional traffic when it should be operating elsewhere.
There were no objectors.
60,000 CLUB MEMBERS
A EMBERSHIP of the B.M.C. al Drivers' Club, which reached its first anniversary on November 1, has reached nearly 60,000, and in recent months new members have been joining at the rate of 700 a week.
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