THE SUCCESS OF THE BUS IN A RAILWAY CENTRE
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Howthe Road Motor Has Developed the Areas Around Darlington.
CONSIDERING that Darlington lays claim to having cradled the great railroad industry—the first railroad in the world was opened from that town to Stockton just one hundred years ago in September next—it might logically be assumed that the district would be adequately supplied with rail facilities, and that in this neighbourhood at any rate, passenger road transport would occupy second place. Yet such is far from being the case, for there are vast stretches of surrounding countryside, mostly comprising rich and productive agricultural land, which are either entirely without railroad facilities, or, at the best, provided with but scant services which are insufficient to permit of the best use being made of the land. As a result of this absence of communication these prosperous farming neighbourhoods have in the past laboured under a serious handicap and it has only been Since the advent of road transport that opportunities have been afforded for the fullest developments of these districts.
During the ceurse of the past few years the town has rapidly developed into one of the foremost motorbus centres in the North of England, and at the present time a vast network of routes enabled residents in all parts of the scattered area to reach the town with a minimum of delay. Furthermore, the effect has been extremely beneficial to the town itself, for it has in the intervening period become a shopping centre of outstanding importance.
Some idea of the magnitude of the volume of bus traffic in Darlington can be gleaned from figures provided by the hackney carriage inspector (Mr. T. V. Hill) in his annual report to the corporation. These show that on an average 30,000 passengers ate carried each week by buses plying for hire between the town and surrounding districts, whilst the number of journeys made by vehicles into and out of the Leadyard (the present site of stands for buses) is 3,500 per week. On Saturdays and Mondays, the weekly shopping and market days reepectively, an average of no fewer than 734 journeys by buses is made.
In addition to routes connecting up the town with all the larger centres of population within a comparatively wide radius, a large number of villages is provided with faeilitiee for maintaining touch with the "Quaker Town." and in this manner no fewer than 50 villages situated at ft distance of more than two miles from a railway station have bens.fited extensively.
The most comprehensive system of setvices in the Darlington district is maintained by the United Automobile Services, Ltd., who have made rapid progress over the past year or two. At the present time they operate regular, convenient and efficient services from Darlington to the following centres:— Bishop Auckland (12.5 miles) ; Northallerton (16 miles) ; Richmond (14 miles) ; Stockton (12 miles) ; Barnard Castle (17 miles) ; Catterick Camp (14 miles) ' Durham (24 miles) ; Bedale and Ripon (42 miles).
Other routes radiating from the town are operated by the following :— Triumph Motor Services: Darlington to Barton and Melsonby, 10 miles; Darlington til Middleton Tyas, 7 miles. Brand's Garages, Ltd.; • Richmond : Darlington to Catterick Camp, 15 miles.
Croft Motors, Ltd. : Darlington to Croft Spa, 4 miles.
Mr. R. Nellie: Darlington to Aldborough and Melsonby, 11 miles.
Mr. T. P. McDowell: Darlington to Ferryhill, 13 miles.
Mr. D. G. McBeath : Darlington to Gainford, 8 miles.
Gypsy Queen Motor Services: Darlington to Stockton, 12 miles.
Mr. Arthur Allinson: Darlington to Nea.sham, Mr. Arthur Todd, Mr. J. Lamb and Mr. Geo. Whitfield: Darlington to Middleton-one-Row, 4.5 miles.
Messrs. Holland Bros. s Darlington to Hurworth, 5.5 miles.
In addition, Mr. S. F. Jackson pro
vides a useful in-town service, which meets a long-felt want on the part of
residents for shopping and business pur
poses, and a four-days-a-week service is operated to and from Staindrop and Barningham by Messrs. Taylor's Motor Services and the Staindrop Motor Services. The total number of buses licensed in Darliugton during the year 1924 was 201 as compared with 127 for the previous year.
The hackney 'Carriage department of the Darlington Corporation is to be con gratulated upon the smoothness with which this immense volume of traffic is bandied. All services, before being sanctioned, must be accompanied by an undertaking from the proprietors to run, to a strict time-table, and during the past twelve months, this regulation has been tightened up considerably in order to provide the travelling public with regular, frequent and reliable facilities.
The effect of this control has afforded some measure of protection for bona fide bus proprietors by the elimination of " pirates " and "week-enders," and this step to secure the confidence of legiti mate owners has been followed by the latter putting into commission better and more modern vehicles.
Adequate measures are taken to protect the public. The corporation sits upon all buses being provided with emergency doors and adequate lighting before licences are granted, whilst regular inspections are made to ensure that a desirable standard of efficiency is being maintained.
The most pressing need in Darlington at the present time, so far as bus operation and control are concerned, is the provision of more adequate standing ground, that at the Leadyard being insufficient to cope with the number of vehicles running to and from the town.
With a view to meeting this pressing requirement the local authority has recently formulated a scheme for the provision of a fine motorbus station along the lines of that instituted by the London General Omnibus Co., Ltd., at Wembley last year.
In the plans prepared, stands are arranged for accommodating 27 vehicles at one time ; this is considered adequate, as no bus remains in the town for more than a few minutes. The stands are arranged in six rows and small loading platforms are included in the lay-out of the station. Owing to a hitch with regard to the securing of a suitable site, this proposal is temporarily held up, but it will be carried into effect so soon as
circumstances permit. Upon its completion the town will possess facilities for dealing with bus traffic which will be unexcelled in the North of England.