A CONSERVATIVE POLIC PAYS 4ASTBOURNE
Page 46
Page 47
Page 48
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
Pioneers of the Municipal Bus, Eastbourne Corporation Continue to Provide a Profitable Service for Residents and Visitors with 54 Vehicles By C. S. Dunbar, M.Inst.T.
IN recent years there has been much discussion about the ideal administrative and managerial arrangements for passenger transport, particularly in urban areas. Sussex is of interest in this connection because, in its three largest urban agglomerations, none of them greatly industrialized, a variety of control and operation exists. The three areas are (1) Brighton with Hove, Portslade and Southwick; (2) Eastbourne, and (3) Hastings with Bexhill.
These three areas vary widely in population and extent. In 1951, for example, the population of Brighton County Borough was 156,486, in an area of 12,513 acres. Hove housed 69,535 in. 3,953 acres, Portslade Urban District 13,574 in 1,953 acres, and Southwick 10,731 in 1,127 acres. At the same census, figures for Eastbourne were 57,821 in 11:),957 acres. The Hastings County Borough figures were 65,522 and 7,323 acres, and the Bexhill population was 25,693 in 7,993 acres.
As Eastbourne is the simplest case, I propose to deal with that transport undertaking first. Th. e county borough stands isolated from any other substantial urban development, so that it has never been difficult to draw a distinction between urban and inter-urban services. Eastbourne has the credit of being the first English municipality to operate motorbuses and is one of the few which did not begin with a tramway system. Before motors appeared the town depended on horsed-buses run by the Eastbourne Omnibus and Carriage Co.
At a time when motorbuses were generally the object of derision, and certainly unreliable, the civic fathers showed remarkable foresight in obtaining a permissive clause in the Eastbourne Corporation Act, 1902, and, what is more, implementing it with little delay. Two single-deck and two double-deck buses were ordered to begin with, and one of these, a 14-seat 16 h.p. Milnes-Daimler, went into service on April 12, 1903, working between Eastbourne Station and The Meads.
By the end of the year the fleet had grown to six and three routes were in operation. Two Clarkson steamers were added in 1904 and gave good service until 1914, despite difficulties with the local hard water. By 1905, in addition to The Meads, it was possible to travel from the station to the foot Of Beachy Head, the seafront, Old Town, Ocklynge, Hampden Park, "The Archery" and Carew Road.
. If these points are picked out on the map it will be seen that the development of the undertaking during, the past 54 years has consisted almost entirely in the provision of B12
alternative routes to these points, notably to Hampden Park. The only projection of any length has been over the 11 miles from "The Archery" to Langney. For a time a service was run beyond Langney to Friday Street.
I doubt whether there is any other town in the country in which the pattern of the system has changed so little over so long a period. There was a boundary extension under the Eastbourne Extension Act, 1937, but this did not automatically give the corporation rights outside its original limits. Three routes (1, 7, 7a) do in part run outside the pre-1937 line as the result of friendly agreement with Southdown Motor Services, Ltd., but applications on two occasions to extend services westwards were unsuccessful. All the present routes are within the existing boundary. • The corporation vehicles were garaged On two or
three temporary sites before the department obtained a specially built garage at Churchdale Road in 1911. This was extended in 1922 and 1926. In addition to the maintenance • ofthe buses, work is undertaken for -Other municipal departments.
Eastbourne is essentially a residential place which attracts a large number of • summer visitors. Manufacturing industry is represented by a number of printing works, which have customer connections throughout the country, and by a trading estate for light industries at Hampden Park. Professional organizations have offices in the town, as also have the Dental Estimates Board, who employ about 1,000 people. Retired persons form a large element in the population and there are many business men and administrative workers who live in Eastbourne and have rail season tickets to London, Brighton and other places.
There is, in consequence, heavy traffic morning and evening to and from the station; which is a dead-end terminus. The railway layout here is very different from those in. the other two areas I am considering. Besides the terminus, Hampden Park is the only station in the corporation's territory.About Seven -out of 10 bus 'passengers are women. . Winter peaks are between 8 a.m. and 9 a.m., noon and 1 p.m. (most workers go home to lunch), and 5 p.m. and 6 p.m. In summer all available buses are required between 8 a.m. and 8 p.m.
Eastbourne was badly hit by the 1939-45 war. It is difficult to believe now that it was originally scheduled as reception area, but in 1940 evacuation on a large scale took place and only a few thousand people remained. Work was found for the buses made surplus by the fall in population by hiring 15 to Lancashire United -and others to Southdown for use at Portsmouth.
Workmen were transported far afield on defence work and for a time the engineering side gave instruction to Servicemen, notably in welding. Part of the garage became an emergency feeding centre. The town had 2,000 alerts, 475 houses were destroyed . and 10,000 damaged. The depot was hit twice. Many buses were damaged and three were destroyed. On many occasions the railway ling was cut and the corporation had to provide alternative services.
A natable feature of the post-war rehabilitation was the introduction of the first oil engine at the late date of 1946. No pre-war buses now remain in the fleet, except four Leyland TD2s, whichthe department reconstructed in 1949 with open upper decks In all there are now 52 double-deckers (26 A.E.C., 18 Leyland and 8 Crossley) and two single-deckers (1 A.E.C. and 1 Leyland). The fleet livery is an attractive combination of primrose and ultramarine. The maximum seating capacity is 56 and the present policy of the management is not to exceed this figure greatly, if at all.
Large double-deckers, for which there is now such a demand elsewhere, have no appeal for Eastbourne, nor have large one-man-operated single-deckers. The management is thus continuing the conservative policy which has characterized the undertaking throughout its life. It would seem to be justified by the population characteristics and the seasonal ebb and flow of demand.
The open-toppers have abundantly justified the cost of reconstruction, although their period of operation is usually restricted to between May 1 and September 30. Each has its own name and they are generally to be found in'summer running along the front, although at times they are employed inland as well.
All-season Services
Service 6a, the seafront service from Prince's Park to the foot of Beachy Head, is the only one which does not start from or pass Eastbourne Station, the focal point of the system. There are nine all-the-year-round services, plus two short workings separately numbered with, in addition during the summer, a through service from Prince's Park to Hampden Park.
Basic headways vary greatly from five minutes between the station and "The Archery" to as much as an hour on service 10 to Mill Road. Two of the services to Hampden Park are also only hourly, but in this case there is an alternative. Services 7, 7a and 9, which are those serving Hampden Park, are interworked to economize on vehicles and staff.
It is interesting to see how this is done. The journey times are approximately the same on the three services-22 or 23 minutes—except that alternate buses on service 9 start at the station instead of at Devonshire Park, which is otherwise the southern terminal. An extract from the duty schedules, omitting actual times, reads thus (The Hydneye and Brodrick Road are alternative terminals in Hampden Park): 9, Station—King's Drive—Brodrick Road; 7a, Brodrick Road—Old Town—Devonshire Park; 9, Devonshire Park— King's Drive—The Hydneye; 9, The Hydneye—King's Drive —Devonshire Park; 7a, Devonshire Park—Old TownBrodrick Road; 9, Brodrick Road—King's Drive—Grand Parade; 9, Grand Parade—King's Drive—The Hydneye; 7, The Hydneye—Ocklynge—Devonshire Park.
Services 1 and 4 run on a common route from Langney past "The Archery" and the station to Upperton Road, beyond which they form a loop, worked in both directions, serving Ocklyrige and Old Town. Service 6 runs from the station to "The Archery" via The Meads and the seafront, with 5 and 6a as short workings on it.
The undertaking has a good financial record. Since it started in 1903 there have been only nine years in which no profits have been made. It is now debt-free and has a reserve fund. In the lowest ranges fares are now double the pre-war level, with a minimum of 2d., but the increase is much less above 3d. The pre-war 6d. ride, for instance, even now costs only 8d.
Eastbourne has one of the few entirely urban undertakings which offer return fares at reduced rates all day, including Sundays and holidays; these apply to stages of 5d. and above. Except for a few 21d. stages along the front, fares rise in penny steps. The usual pre-printed tickets were employed until 1954, since when Speed-model Setrights have been used. , An indication of the growth of the business is afforded by a comparison of the following annual figures, made up to March 31 in the respective years: In 1904, 430,722 passengers were carried over approximately 70,000 miles. In 1920, the passenger total had risen to 4.850,936 and the mileage run to 357,425. By 1939 the figures had soared to 14,594,680 and 1,407,087 respectively. By 1958 the passengers had multiplied to 16,811,552 against a relatively slight increase in mileage to 1,494,129.
There was a surge upwards between 1947 and 1951, !mit the rise and subsequent fall have not been nearly so striking as in most places.
Protective Arrangement Eastbourne being situated as it is, there would be little point in the corporation entering into any pooling arrangement with an outside operator. There is, in fact, only one—Southdown. The company's vehicles are allowed to pick up and set down within the corporation area, but in general they have to charge a minimum of 4d.
On service 7 to Hampden Park via Ocklynge, this protection only applies as far as Windmill Close. As 4d. is not a normal Southdown minimum, its application has a curious result, in that a passenger boarding a company bus towards the end of a municipal route can save Id. on his (probably) faster ride by booking beyond the boundary, even if he alights at that point. On the Southdown circular route to Birling Gap, which started last summer, no fares can be booked short of Beachy Head.
Mr. L. H. Cannon, A.M.Inst.T., the present Eastbourne manager, is only the fourth occupant of that position. Mr. J. K. Bridges (who was also borough electrical engineer) was in charge until 1906. Mr. P. Ellison then became manager and remained until 1939, when Mr. John Atherton, who died last year, took the reins.
Oddly enough, Eastbourne, having managed without a tramway for half a century, was given one in 1954. Admittedly, it is only half-a-mile long and is only on a 2-ft. gauge, but it carries big loads in the summer from Prince's Park gates to the Crumbles. Its promoters, Modern Electric Tramways, Ltd., regard it as a serious enterprise which, when it eventually reaches the isolated settlement at Langney Point, will be able to offer an all-the-year-round service.
[Passenger transport at Brighton will be reviewed next week.]