Fight for Rural Bus Relief, Urges M.P.
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UNLESS there is some relief for rural bus operators in the Budget, country people should form an organization to bring pressure to bear on the Government. This suggestion by Mr. R. Speir, M.P., was warmly welcomed at Newcastle, last week, by the Northumberland Rural Community Council and the Northumberland Association of Parish Councils, who had called a conference to discuss the deterioration of rural bus services.
Mr. Speir said he had been flabbergasted by the Treasury suggestion that the answer to the problem was to raise living standards in the country so that people could provide their own transport. The Chancellor of the Exchequer had told him that he was very familiar with the difficulties, but he could not anticipate his Budget decisions.
Mr. Speir urged the conference to fight if their pleas were again ignored. He suggested action on a national basis, with a rural transport defence organization, to bring the matter home to the Government.
The conference unanimously passed a resolution urging the Government to reduce taxation on country bus services and to set up an inter-departmental committee to investigate the long-term needs of rural transport.
Mr. W. Owen, M.P., also attended the conference, which was presided over by Viscount Ridley.
DUTCH COACH WITH BAR EXPECTED AT RALLY
ABOUT 60 British and Continental coaches will take part in the British Coach Rally on April 18 and 19. One possible Dutch entry is a super-luxury vehicle for long-range tours which has a bar, toilet, full air-conditioning and aircraft-type seating.
Another foreign entry, received from the Deutsche Touring G.m.b.H., Frankfurt, on Monday, is a Kiissbohrer 40-seater with Henschel 125 b.h.p. engine.
The programme will be as follows: Saturday morning—coaches travel from Victoria Coach Station, London, to Brighton. Afternoon—driving tests on Madeira Drive, Brighton. Evening— reception by the Mayor of Brighton, followed by social and dance. Sunday morning—Concours d'Elegance on Madeira Drive. Afternoon—final tests for Coach Driver of the Year and Cape Asbestos trophies.
WIDE BUSES: POLICE VIEW
A LTHOUGH it had seemed impossible r Th. for 8-ft.-wide buses to be used on certain routes, experience had shown that careful planning of timetables, plus driver skill, had avoided serious effects upon other road users. This was stated by Supt. H. Gilder, of the traffic department of Essex County Police, when he addressed the Institute of Road Transport Engineers in London yesterday.