Urban Councils and a Bus Application.
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MHERE was an unusually large
attendance of interested parties— both local authorities and private bus proprietors—at a Ministry of Transport inquiry held at Tredegar on December 0th into the refusal of the Brynmawr, Rhymney and Tredegar Urban District Councils to grant permission to Messrs. C. Davies and Sons, bus proprietors, Dowlais, to ply for hire with buses through their respective urban areas in connection with a service from Merthyr to Abergavenny. Mr. R. A. Tollerton, D.S.O., MC., conducted the inquiry for the Ministry.
In addition to Messrs. Davies and Sons and the three councils, as principals, the following companies were legally represented as opponents of the application and having proposals or services of their own likely to be affected by any decision arrived at :—The Griffin Bus Co., Ltd.; the Western Services, Ltd.; the Tredegar Transport Co., and the Valleys Bus Co., Ltd. The police of the area were also represented.
Mr. W. J. Canton, Dowlais. who represented the appellants, said that the proposed service from Merthyr to Abergavenny was of great public importance. The route to be traversed was 17 miles long and passed through the areas of eight municipal authorities.
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Pour councils had already granted permission for the service, and three, those now appealed against, had refused licences. The population that would be served by the services was some 110,000. There-was, said Mr. Canton, no direct service between Merthyr and Abergavenny, although loeal services covered most of the ground and a through service was essential to public welfare. Owing to the: diversion of these local services it was mentioned that the journey from Merthyr to Abergavenny took 165 minutes, whereas the direct service of the applicants would take 110 minutes—a saving of 55 minutes.
The councils opposed the service and considered it unnecessary on account of the volume of traffic already on the route and the unsuitability of certain parts of the roads. In addition, it was said that the existing facilities were adequate and that sanction for a direct service between Merthyr and Abergavenuy had already been given to another company, which proposed during this month to institute a halfhourly service between the towns.
Mr. Evans (of Messrs. C. Davies and Sous), replying to Mr. Phillips, clerk to the Tredegar Urban District Council, said he was not aware that another company had been authorized to run a ser vice. In reply to Mr. D. G. Harries, clerk to the Brynmawr :Urban District Council, he said that he did not know that 113 buses run over a portion of the route at Brynmawr daily, or that 374 buses entered the square at Brynmawr daily.
Asked by the commissioner whether he would like to reconsider the application in view of these facts, witness retorted that the details were new to him and, accepting them as given, he would admit that it was possible that room for all those wishing to ran vehicles over the route could not be found. It was not, however, agreed to withdraw the application.
After several witnesses" for and against the service had been heard, Mr. T. R. Jenkins, secretary of Western Services, Ltd., gave evidence dealing with the service proposed to be instituted on the route by his company, which has obtained the necessary sanction.
After some discussion it was understood that if all applications for permisSion to operate on the route could not be granted, then priority of application for rights might be a determining factor.
The Ministry of Transport will make known its decision at a later date.