ANOTHER NORTH - COUNTRY BUS, INQUIRY. The Ministry of Transport Conducts an Inquiry into an Application to Run Buses into Newcastle.
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rrIBE desire of the Tynemouth and District Traction Co., Ltd., to extend its system into the city of Newcastle and the refusal of the Newcastle Corporation to grant the requisite licences—as reported in a recent issue of The Commercial Motor—resulted in a
Ministry of Transport inquiry being held a few days ego in Newcastle. Mr. Gordon Tucker conducted the inquiry, which was the outcome of the company's appeal against the corporation's refusal to grant 17 licences in order to enable it to extend its Whitley Bay to Wallsend section into the centre of Newcastle.
Mr. Sidney Morse, of London, who appeared for the company, outlined ,protracted negotiations between the company and the Newcastle Corporation, and said that on February 17th the company made a written application to the Newcastle Chief Constable for 17 licences. Accompanying the application was an undertaking that the company would charge fares which would ensure that its services would not• be competitive with the tramway now serving the route and that the bus service would
not interfere in any way with the tramways service. On June 9th the application was refused, the reason being, it was stated, that there was already an adequate service and it was not desirable to increase traffic congestion in the City area. On this point Mr. Morse observed that, at the present time, there were no omnibuses operating over the route. He also mentioned that all throught the negotiations between the Corporation and the company no mention had been made of congestion or the sufficiency of existing facilities.
Support for the appellants was forthcoming from the Tynemouth Corporation, on behalf of which the town clerk, Mr. Stanley Wilson, told the Ministry's representative that the Tynemouth and District Traction Co., Ltd. provided an efficient and adequate service in the district and that the proposed new service would prove of great value to a large number of people. The town had a population of 68,000 and three large new housing estates were being developed along the line of the proposed route. Purthelmore, large numbers of Tynemouth residents worked at Newcastle and required transit facilities.
Mr. E. R. Soames, chairman of the Tynemouth and District Traction Co., Ltd., said that application for licences to enable the company to operate into Newcastle was first made in June of last year and such progress was made with the negotiations that a draft agreement was prepared. In January last Mr. H. A. Stagg, managing director, asked the corporation committee whether it had plenary powers to grant the licences, and was informed that it had, subject to confirmation. He thought it would be admitted that, in the majority of instances, the Ministry of Transport was prepared to sanction the prolongation of services from outside areas into the centre of large cities and towns, so long as an undertaking was given that the bus proprietors would charge fares which made their services non-competitive with municipal tram services. • Mr. Stagg said that at present the company was carrying over two million passengers per annum. The company expected that the bulk of its traffic would come from the west of Tynemouth and that the route would not be competitive with the tram route between Newcastle and Virallsend. He added that it was also applying for 25 licences for another service between Newcastle and Whitley Bay, over the new Coast ' Road, when it was ready for use. That application was now under review.
Representatives of authorities along the route expressed the opinion that the bus service would meet the needs of a growing district which was not catered for fully by tramcars and the railway, and Councillor W. A. Laws, chairman of the licensing committee of the Whitley Bay Urban District Council, said that the extension of the service into Newcastle would benefit Whitley Bay by attracting a larger number of visitors.
Mr. C. B. Fenwick, who represented the corporation, called the chief constable, Mr. F. J. Crawley, who gave some interesting facts and figures with reference to traffic congestion in the 'city. He said he was anxious to keep the centre of the city free from motorbuses, mid for this renson traffic of this kind was stopped some distance from the
heart of the shopping area. In his opinion it was not desirable to have omnibus traffic entering from the east end of the city—in which direction the company's vehicles would enter— because already there were five tram ratites and a vast volumessif industrial traffic over Byker Bridge, which carried
the arterial road. A recent census showed that in ten hours 5,000 vehicles passed a point near the bridge.
Mr. John Charles Liddell, general manager of the Tyneside Tramways Co., said his company, in conjunction with the Newcastle Corporation, provided tram services hetwen Newcastle, Wallsend and North Shields, and was capable of meeting all calls made upon it.