Soccer Fans Support Operators
Page 49
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FOOTBALL supporters told of their travelling difficulties before the North Western Traffic Commissioners in Manchester last week. Yelloway Motor Services, Ltd., were seeking the removal of a limit upon the number of occasions when vehicles could be run to Burnley matches.
Mr. F. D. Walker, for Yelloway, said that at present they operated on six occasions from Bacup to Burnley. Facilities were used to capacity. A stage service between Todmorden and Burnley, via Bacup, was operated by the Todmorden Joint Omnibus Committee, but only single fares were available and there was no guarantee of seats on the return journey.
No priority was given to spectators who travelled to the matches, and many people left about 10 minutes before the end of the game to ensure a seat for the homeward journey. Numerous passengers who travelled on the special buses went shopping or visiting, he added.
A survey had been taken on March 12, and 26 private motorists had given lifts to more than 50 people presumably going to the football match, said Mr. H. Allen, manager of Yelloway.
A representative of the Todrnorden undertaking said that on many occasions they had operated two vehicles which had not been completely filled. They had carried 16 passengers on March 12, but, he commented, it would be unfair for another company to take traffic from them. The Bacup-Burnley service was unremunerative and the slightest abstraction would be serious, said Mr. W. E. Metcalfe, manager at Todmorden.
Mr. Walker said that the crux of the ,matter was the public need—not the economy of a service. .Todmorden facilities were operated in such a way as to give rise to extensive complaints. Yelloway would be satisfied if they were granted one additional vehicle for any one occasion outside the authorized six.
Mr. F. Williamson, chairman, said that although the Todmorden service was unremunerative, it had to be safeguarded and the application could not be granted as it stood. He suggested that the two parties should confer with a view to operating a co-ordinated service.
He would give a decision if no solution had been reached within a month, he added.