DONCASTER IS AN IMPORTANT ROAD-SERVICE CENTRE
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IF\ ONCASTER is situated close to 1.J the eastern border of the new Yorkshire traffic area, and its position is such that many of the motorbus services entering the town pass through, or originate from other traffic areas. Considerable interest will, no doubt, centre around this district when the new traffic commissioners take full charge.
Dealing first with the municipal services, the first section of electric tramways was opened by Doncaster Corporation in June, 1902, and subsequent additions made a total of approximately 14 route-miles.
Twenty years later, in October, 1922, the first corporation motorbus service was inaugurated, two other services being opened the following month.
The population now served by the Doncaster Corporation transport sys-tern is over 80,000, and quite a number of the routes operates to points outside the borough. Under an Act of 1922, powers to provide and run motorbuses within the borough, and on certain outside routes were granted, and in 1926 the Act authorizing the operation of trolley vehicles in the borough and in Bentley Urban District was passed.
The powers then obtained were utilized as soon •afterwards as praoticable ; the Bentley tramway service was abolished and trolley vehicles were snbstituted in August, 1928. A trolleyvehicle Order-confirmationAct was _passed through Parliament in 1929, and, amongst other provisions, it enabled the corporation completely to abandon the tramways system and to substitute raiDess vehicles.
Work in this direction is still proceeding, and six routes have been adapted, the trolley vehicles now serving just over 11 miles of road.
3340 There are 19 Karrier-Clough sixwheeled 60-seater trolley-buses, and four Garrett vehicles of similar seating capacity, also six-wheelers. The petrol buses in commission number 36, 30 of these being Bristol machines, 26 of them 30seaters and the others double-saloon 50seaters. Two A.E.C. 50-seaters two Karrier six-wheeled 60-seaters, and one Dennis and one Leyland single-decker make up the fleet.
In addition to a large number of local services, the Doncaster buses run through to Sheffield via Rotherham, in conjunction with the authorities of those towns.
Quite a number of prominent bus undertakings operates into Doncaster, also a number of smaller concerns. Of the former, the Yorkshire Traction Co., Ltd., of Barnsley, is well to the fore, its well-groomed fleet of Leyland Lions and Tigers serving Barnsley via Mextpro', Swinton' Goldthorpe, Hemswortfi or South Emsall ; Goole via Thorne ; Thu rnseoe ; Kilnhurst, via Conisboro ;
Cadeby, Huddersfield, High Green and Manchester, jointly with the NorthWestern Road .Car Co., Ltd., between Barnsley and Manchester.
In conjunction witN? the Yorkshire (Woollen District) Electric Tramways,. Ltd., and \Vest Yotkshire Road Car Co.,. Ltd., of Harrogate, daily 'services are worked from the various Yorkshire towns served by the three undertakings, via Doncaster and Sheffield to Birmingham and London.
Nottingham is served hourly by a joint service via Worksop, operated by East Midland Motor Services, Ltd., which concern employs A.E.C. vehicles, and Trent Motor Traction Co., Ltd„ the fleet of which company is composed nutinly of the well-known S.O.S. 32-37seaters •' the through journey occupies 2 hrs. 55 mine.
Retford and Mansfield are also served by East Midland vehicles. Gainsborough, Scunthorpe and other neighbouring towns are served by Enterprise and Silver Dawn Motors, Ltd., of Scunthorpe, this concern having taken over the Scunthorpe-district services of the East Midland Co. in 1927. A.E.C. and A.D.C. 32-seaters and 35-seaters are employed by the company, the services of which also operate into Grimsby, New Holland and Lincoln.
South Yorkshire Motors, of Pontefract, operates a daily service to London (from Leeds), also a night service, on alternate nights, from Leeds and London. Daily services, every hour, are worked between Leeds and Doncaster; Leyland vehicles are chiefly favoured in this fleet.
Several smaller operators serve Stainforth, Ackworth, Askern, etc. Leyland, Reo and Thornyeroft vehicles being used, mostly of the smaller types.
The two through services between London and Newcastle-on-Tyne, Glasgow and Edinburgh, which are maintained by United Automobile Services, Ltd, and Orange Bros., pass through Doneasthr daily, the town being, quite an important traffic-exchange point for several neighbouring routes, as well 'as being a "meal" stop on some of the numerous north-to-south services.
Doncaster thus attains to a position of some prominence in the framework of local and long-distance road-travel services which covers Great Britain. The importance of the centre is likely to develop as co-ordination progresses.