Railway Abstracts Coach Traffic
Page 52
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" WHAT is the bus operator to do YV against abstraction of his traffic by fare-cutting on the railways? Mr. J. Lustgarten, as counsel for the ,North Western Road Car Co., Ltd., put this question to the North-Western Commissioners and suggested that they should give sympathetic consideration to the bus operator's position.
It was significant that in this case the applicant for power to reduce fares was an associate company of the railways, and the chairman, Mr. W. Chamberlain, suggested that the matter might be better managed at a board meeting of the two concerns.
Included in the reductions sought . were those previously announced as affecting the North Wales traffic, and, in addition to other facilities, the North -Western concern desired permission to run an excursion from Macclesfield to Buxton. It was pointed out that the company ran a stagecarriage service between the two points at 2s. 6d, return, which was the same as the rail fare, although the rail trip was twice as long and the time occupied was the same, being an hour in each case, During the summer, however, the railway company had started an evening excursion at is. .
So great had been the rush to take advantage of this cheap fare that queues were waiting at the station to book after the train was "packed," and only eight passengers had offered themselves for the Macclesfield Forest excursion of the North Western Road Car Co., for which, on previous experience, accommodation had been provided for 200 persons, Not until it was known that they could not travel by train to Buxton did passengers seek the coaches, and thenthe number apse from eight to 156 persons. On the comparable date 295 persons had been carried. Mr. Lustgarten submitted that the figures and facts showed deliberate abstraction of road traffic by the railways. After attending those courts and taking part in the fixing of road fares, they went away and cut down the rail fare. Ile did not think that the position would be satisfactory until some further statute imposed upon all transport undertakings some equitable standard of fares.
Decision was reserved.