Commissioners Decide Not to Alter Linking Agreement
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rOLLOWING proposals by the North Western Traffic Commissioners to limit
conditions on road service licences, 16 Morecambe operators siNcessfully objected at a two-day sitting last week, Since 1941 all the coach operators in the Morecambe area had been allowed to pick up passengers whose journeys originated at points authorized on road service licences belonging to other operators, provided the licence-holder agreed. The Commissioners had now suggested that this condition should be deleted or, alternatively, that a proviso should be added stating that if passengers were picked up under this agreement, each journey should be regarded as a separate operation in order to ascertain the number of vehicles used in any one day.
The Commissioners' proposals were supported by British Railways, the Town Clerk of Morecambe, Morecambe Motors (Silver Grey), Ltd., and Lansdowne Excursions (Morecambe), Ltd.
Mr. 1. Booth, appearing for 15 of the operators, pointed out that it was improper for a condition to be deleted which had helped to build up goodwill over the years. They had linked picking up points and interchanged passengers for many years, and there had been no complaints. No vehicle allowance was specified on the licences, but he was convinced that fewer vehicles would not be able to cope with the influx of summer visitors. It was really a way of reducing the facilities which were made available to the travelling public and all the operators wanted to be allowed to run their •services as they had been doing in the past. Why should any man, continued Mr. Booth,. be compelled .to run an uneconomic service when a link could make it Par
Mr. F. D. Walker; for Ribble Motor Services. Ltd., said that they had been Morecambe operators for many years and had come to accept this condition as one of their rights. Their licence did not forbid them to link picking up points and interchange passengers, so they had
been doing nothing wrong. The condition was a privilege and it had not been abused. The Morecambe group were 25 miles away from any other large section of coach operators, so they competed with nobody but themselves.
Mr. S. Webster, for Morecambe Motors and Lansdowne Excursions, said that they were quite willing to accept either of the proposals. The present state of affairs meant that many operators exceeded their vehicle allowance, they linked originating points and transhipped passengers. This created a 'free for all" and made a farce of licensing.
Evidence was given by the various operators, who submitted details of their past running and said they had been linking their points and interchanging passengers. The isolated position of the town had helped to make this type of operation profitable.
The Chairman of the Commissioners, Mr. F. Williamson, said that it was obvious the condition could not be deleted, and he had decided not to add the new proviso regarding the number of vehicle journeys operated. No evidence had been produced by Morecambe Motors or Lansdowne Excursions, and, after considering the evidence, he had decided to leave the situation as it was.