AMALGAMATION TUR LOSS INTO PROFIT
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SINCE the municipalities of GritnSby and Cleethorpes. pooled their' public tran,sport.resources .on January 1, 1957, they have been among the elect. . An alarming succession . of deficit years has given place to years of profit—not large, perhaps, but sufficient to quell anxiety in the bosoms of council and ratepayers alike.
This "marriage of true minds" came about in a somewhat hesitant manner, as befits one of England's most ancient chartered boroughs and her neighbour. From the turn of the century, public transport in the two towns was provided by the Great Grimsby Street Tramways Co. In 1925, Grimsby Corporation bought the operating rights within their borough boundaries and the tramways company continued to work in Cleethorpes for another 11 years before that council acquired the local rights. Until the amalgamation 20 years later there were always the inevitable difficulties of operation in a relatively large area, artificially divided in the manner of East and West Berlin.
Grimsby always thought highly of electric traction. It introduced its first trolleybuses in 1926 and its first halfdozen petrol buses a year later. In those days the fleet comprised 30 trams, seven trolleybuses and six motorbuses, working over 6.8 route-miles. Today, the fleet consists of 17 single-deck and 70 double-deck motorbuses and 12 trolleybuses operating over 95.15 route-miles,
No Coincidence The committee responsible for public transport within the two municipalities has 16 members, of which Grimsby provides 10, under the chairmanship of all-. J. P. Murphy. Mr. John Rostron, general manager and engineer, joined the undertaking via Bolton and Sunderland, in 155, at a time of great financial strain. It is probably no coincidence that his period of office has seen a marked easing of the burden.
At the date of the amalgamation of the two fleets, Grimsby had 63 motorbuses and 13 trolleybuses: Cleethorpes put into the pool 16 motorbuses and 12 trolleybuses. Reorganization of facilities made possible a reduction in fleet strength, particularly among the trolleybuses, as well as a streamlining of services and staff. The Cleethorpes depot became a frozen-product factory. El6 Most modern vehicles in the fleet are two A.E.C.
• 13ridgemaster 68-seaters with Park Royal bodies, two
5 L.W. 63-seat Daimlers with Roe coachwork, and four A.E_C. Reliance single-deck buses with bodies by Willowbrook. All these were delivered last year and can be regarded as forming part of the replacement plan for the dozen trolleybuses whose days are numbered. In Mr. Rostron's view, four Reliances and four Bridgenaaster, will give the same capacity as the 12 trolleybuses.
Veterans of the Grimsby fleet are four 7.7-litre A.E.C. Regents of 1936-37 vintage, all of which have nearly completed their first million miles and are due for retirement. These were equipped with oil engines and new 56-seat bodies by Northern Counties after they had been badly battered in air raids. There are also 14 Guy Arabs, some with 1944 war-time utility bodies and two with 1958 Roe bodies and preselector gearboxes. Six A.E.C. Regents are ex-London Transport and there are 14 Daimlers built between 1944 and 1950, with coachwork by Brush, Roe, Duple and Willowbrook.
Of the single-deekers, the oldest and, in some respects, the most interesting operationally, are five A.E.C. Reliances with 7.7-litre engines. These buses are of 1940 manufacture and have Roe coachwork. In 1955, however. a conversion job was performed on them in the under
taking's own workshops, in which the rear entrance was moved to the front, So that they could be used for one-man operation.
At the time, the general manager was anxious to have folding doors under the control of the driver. Although the door manufacturers rejected the idea (except at prohibitive cost), Mr. J. Lane, rolling stock superintendent and an engineer of great ingenuity, devised a rack-and-pinion system carried in the trim above the door that has functioned smoothly and efficiently ever since.
The single-deck fleet also comprises four new Reliances with 6.75-litre engines and bodies by Willowbrook. These, too, are unusual in that the frame under the door has been downswept to give a wider and shallower entrance. These are 42-seaters, with room• for 15 standing passengers. Six other Reliances have 1956 Roe coachwork for 41 seated passengers and 19 standing. There are also two 43-seat Daimler Freelines with 10.6-litre engines, and a Morris Minibus. This was acquired last summer and has proved of great value, running a shuttle service between two local holiday camps and serving as van, relief bus and welfare car.
Trolleybuses to be Withdrawn
Of the 12 remaining trolleybuses, six are 1947 KarrierMetropolitan-Vickers with Roe 56-seat bodies, four are 1950 B.U.T. with Northern Counties 54-seat bodies and two are 1951 Crossleys with Roe 54-seat coachwork. These may be withdrawn next summer.
The experimental introduction of one-man working in 1955 was on a voluntary basis. After a little initial hesitation, it has now been fully accepted by the operating staff, and is equally welcomed by the public and the undertaking.
The primary task facing Mr. Rostron on his arrival in Grimsby was to halt the financial drain which had been going on for eight years. The loss in 1954-55 was £11,000. A year later the deficit had been reduced to £6,600 and by
1957 (a year which included three months of joint operation), the tide was turned and the books showed a profit of £14,000., In the first full year of the combined unaertaking the credit was reduced to a little over• £4,000, but in . March, 1959,. it had recovered to £16,500. This year it may well be a little. less, probably in the region of £12,000.
The introduction of one-man operation was certainly one way in which money was saved without any falling-off in operating efficiency. There were, however, others of perhaps less drastic a kind. Streamlining of staff, for example, has reduced numbers from 127 at January 1, 1957, to 108 today. These cuts did not affect the traffic staff, which, in fact, has been increased by two to 281.
At the same time, workshop staff were encouraged, to make use of their native initiative and several useful items were home-produced in consequence. A jack fabricated from half a rear axle, a pair of wheels from a Bren-carrier and a bus stop sign serves its purpose for little cash outlay. A mechanical tram hoist of early vintage was converted to electric operation and now lifts a bus in short time. The most rccent addition is an electric bus washer which must have saved the undertaking several hundreds of pounds. Mr. Lane has also designed a Mechanical lift and ramp for invalid chairs, installed in the centre entrance of an elderly Bristol, which gives a great deal of pleasure to the patients who use it.
Grimsby and Cleethorpes operating costs, at 26.733d. per mile for the motorbuses, are believed to be among the
lowest in the country. For trolleybuses, the figure is E t 8
31.028d. per mile. The largest single item of expenditure is for wages and salaries, accounting for 12.537d. per mile. Fuel, at 10.2 m.p.g., costs 4.561d. per mile, and repairs and maintenance of vehicles and plant, 3.407d. per mile. The trolleybuses carry a heavy rate burden of 2.569d. per mile and a wages bill rather higher than that of the buses at 14.309d. per mile.
On the other side of the book, tickets issued on both motorbuses and trolleybuses in the year 1958-59 amounted to 33,416.417, producing revenue of £414,642 (29.90d. per mile). The annual mileage was about 3.3m.
The undertaking provides services on 23 routes, as well as a large number of specials and workmen's services. In constant use on the regular services are 63 motorbuses and nine trolleybuses. Special duties (including school buses) call for a further 21, which can often be used to duplicate stage services when required.
The area covered by the county borough of Grimsby and the municipal borough of Cleethorpes together is bounded on' the north and east by about six miles of the River Humber waterfront, and extends inland about three miles. The longest route served by the joint transport committee lies. largely, outside the borough boundaries and connects Immingham docks with Cleethorpes, a distance of about 13 miles.
This service is worked jointly with the Lincolnshire Road Car Co.. Ltd., and replaces the old British Railways tram facility which is being run down. Grimsby and Cleethorpes service 45 runs hourly, including Sundays.
Most frequent of the purely local services are 10 (Riby Square-Freeman Street, with extensions to Nunsthorpe and Scartho) and 11 (Grimsby Old Market-Cleethorpes bathing pool). These are both five-minute frequencies and serve the greater part of the town centres. Two services, 3 and 3A (River Head-Bradley Cross Roads) and 4 and 4A (Old Clee-Bradley Cross Roads) are run at 71-minute intervals throughout most of the day.
Other town services vary between 15-minute and onehour frequencies. The single trolleybus route extends from Grimsby Town station, via Victoria Street, to the bathing pool at Cleethorpes.
Headquarters offices, workshops and garages of the undertaking occupy the Victoria Street corporation tram depot built about 1928. The fit is a little tight under the armpits and one of the garages is, as yet, without permanent walls. This, however, is a matter shortly to be rectified.