New Coach Link with Continent
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AS forecast in the June 26 issue of The Commercial Motor, a new coach link between England and the Continent was formed last week. The Europabus FrankfurtBrussels service has been extended to Ostend to join this network to the London-Dover service operated by the East Kent Road Car Co., Ltd.
A Europabus coach leaves Ostend for Brussels and Frankfurt at 7.30 a.m. on Mondays, Tuesdays, Fridays and Saturdays. Tourists may travel by the East Kent coach leaving Victoria Coach Station at 9.30 a.m. on the previous day to catch the ferry at 4.50 p.m. and disembark in Ostend at 8.20 p.m. for a night's stay before continuing the journey. Similar arrangements can be made for the return trip, the Europabus coach arriving at Ostend at 8.15 p.m.
The return fare from London to Brussels, including a third-class boat fare, is about £5 18s., which represents a saving of about £1 compared with a third-class return ticket by rail. To Frankfurt the fare is approximately £10 9s. and the saving is nearly £3. The coach is due in Brussels at 10 a.m. and in Frankfurt at 10.15 p.m. The Leyland Royal Tiger with Duple bodywork, seen on Dover Castle Hill, which took a party on the first stage of the journey from London to Brussels.
Railway Development Europabus was developed by the State-controlled railways of Western Europe to provide an international network of express road services, and the system offers advantages of outstanding irnportanee in the general scheme of international tourism. With the exception of the French services, many of the routes run parallel to the railways, and although . this suggests domestic conflict, it is an indication of a realistic approach to the needs of foreign tourists.
Administrative offices of Europabus are in Berne, where are also located the headquarters of the technical committee who decide the specifications of the bodywork fittings and so on, and the standard of maintenance required. In Belgium, Germany, Holland and Italy, private companies provide the services under contract to the railways, the contract being based on a mileage rate irrespective of the number of passengers carried and the receipts. Vehicles owned by the railways, or a government associated company, are used on services from Switzerland and Austria, the Scandinavian countries and from France and Spain. The largest private concern operating Europabus services is the German " Touring" company, Deutsche Touring-Gesellschaft, M.B,H., of Frankfurt, who run 15 buses or. 13 routes, compared with three Europabus lines in Belgium, Holland and in Denmark, two in Switzerland, four in Austria and five in both Norway and Sweden.
The Touring coaches are part of a large fleet of Mercedes-Benz and Bussing vehicles engaged on excursions and tours in Germany. The vehicles provided by private companies may be used for other work.
Family Enterprise The Ostend-Frankfurt .route is operated by the Touring company in conjunction with a family concern with a fleet of four Volvo coaches owned by Mr. Gastens, of Brussels. Mr. Gastens often drives the vehicles himself in company with his daughter, who acts as hostess. The scheduled time from Brussels to Ostend is 21 hours for the 84 miles, including a stop for refreshments. The running time can be reduced with ease to about 1 hour 50 minutes, which gives an average speed of nearly 46 m.p.h.
In both the Touring and Gastens concerns, a Belgian driver takes the vehicle to the German frontier and returns on the following service, a reciprocal change being made by the German driver. This practice is followed wherever practicable on the Europabus system. Most of the drivers and hostesses are fluent in at least one language in addition to their own. Many know three or four languages.
The Belgian railways have contracted all road passenger services to private operators, including those recently introduced to replace non-paying train services on about 600 miles of line. In France the railways have a complete monopoly of passenger services from Paris to Lille, Luxembourg and Bordeaux, and the trains must be used on these lines to connect with other road services. A daily Europabus serNiCe is operated by a private concern between Ostend and Lille.
To mark the opening of the East Ktnt-Europabus link, a party last week made the return journey from Victoria
Coach Station to Brussels on a trip lasting 21 days. On their arrival at Victoria from Dover they were met by Mr. J. Bridges, chairman of the travel and development committee of the International Union of Tourist Organisations, and director-general of the
British Travel and Holidays Association. Mr. Bridges emphasized the importance of the link-up to intending coach tourists throughout the country, and pointed out that, as travel was always " two-way," it would encourage many more visitors to this country.