1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
66
67
68
69
70
71
72
73
74
75
76
77
78
79
80
81
82
83
84
85
86
87
88
89
90
91
92
93
94
95
96
97
98
99
100
101
102
103
104
105
106
107
108
109
110
111
112
113
114
115
116
117
118
119
120
121
122
123
124
125
126
127
128
129
130
131
132
133
134
135
136
137
138
139
140
141
142
143
144
145
146
147
148
149
150
151
152
153
154
155
156
157
158
159
160
161
162
163
164
165
166
167
168
169
170
171
172
173
174
175
176
177
178
179
180
181
182
183
184
185
186
187
188
189
190
191
192
193
194
195
196 
NORTHERN MUNICIPAL TRANSPORT.
Page 117
Page 118
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
"DASSENGERCARRYING under.E takings hi the North of England are making considerable preparations still further to increase their activities. NIunicipa.lities especially are showing great enterprise in this direction and, in view of the many important proposals now under contemplation, the time is particularly appropriate for reviewing municipal transport operations in this area. Within the short space of five or six years there has been a remarkable change of front, so far as local corporations Java concerned, towards motorbuses and trolley-buses. Whereas, formerly, trams were retarded as the only economical and effective means of meeting public requirements, so far as short-distance traffic is concerned, now almost every municipality in the important industrial and !arming neighbourhood lying between the Tweed and the Tees has already Istablished, or is taking steps to estabish, its own system of buses or railless Dperatin'g Buses on a Large Scale.
At the present time five of the big :•orporations in Northumberland, furl= and Nortk Yorkshire operate notorbuses on a comparatively large
wale. These are the authorities at Vewcastle, Middlesbrough, Stockton, 3outh Shields and West Hartlepool.
Railless traction has also made headway. Darlington, West Hartlepool Ind the Middlesbrough and ston tuthorities (which jointly control the Teesside Railless Traction Board) all • un trolley-buses on to.' fairly extensive ;rale, so that, roughly, municipalities n the area now operate between 150 ind 200 motorbuses and railless vehicles over routes which serve many hundreds of thousands of people.
Three others, Sunderland, WalIsend mod Jarrow, arc now proposing to seek )owers to run buses, whilst several of he authorities mentioned above have n hand schemes of expansion, so that 027 is likely to see very extensive muniipal transport developments in the tistrict. Of the many proposals in hand, none is creating greater interest than that contemplated by the Newcastle =mid.
pality. Whereas in 1923 this authority worked a fleet of about 30 buses, solely as a means of bringing traffic to the trams from outlying districts, it is, at the present time, the largest bus-owning municipality in the area, and has a fleet of 57 saloon buses of the most upto-date types, the makes being A.D.C., Daimler, Dennis and Guy ; pneumatic tyres are standard throughout the fleet.
Newcastle's Latest Bus Plans.
Early in 1926, as a result of a Ministry of Transport inquiry, the route mileage of the municipal "Blue" bus fleet was curtailed, owing to the fact that the Ministry ordered three services to be discontinued. Since that time the Newcastle Corporation has lest little time in formulating new schemes of development, and, as has already been recorded in The Commercial Motor, an ambitious Bill has recently been prepared in which powers are sought to run buses in the county of Northumberland, within a radius of 21 miles of the city boundaries, as well as to substitute, whore necessary, buses for trams in the city. A supplementary service of express buses has recently been decided upon forrthe Gosforth route, and the results obtained will determine whether similar facilities will he provided during busy traffic periods over other tram routes. Meanwhile chief interest centres around tire proposal to run buses in the area referred to, and private undertakings in the neighbourhood are preparing to combat the proposal. An aecompanying ;map shows the big stretch of ocountry which is affected by this Clause.
At Darlington trolley-buses are givina great satisfaction, and it is expected that the local municipal system, which in the past has almost invariably shown a loss each year when• trams were in use, will now be able to meet all charges, if not to show a useful net profit. The fleet comprises 20 36-seater cars constructed by Straker, Clough and Co.. Ltd., the bodies being i the product of C. U. Roe, Ltd., of Leeds. The Tr" ,turns available for the first eight months
of the present financial year show that 4,284,000 passengers were carried, as compared with 3,630,000 in the corresponding period of the previous year when trams were in use. During The same period receipts amounted to £32,477, this figure being an increase of 14,274 over the previous year.
Darlington's Interesting Trial.
The corporation recently inaugurated cervices of motorouses over two new routes in ord,ar to serve residents in parts of the town now being opened up for residential purposes. The authority, of course, possesses the necessary powers in its Transport Bill to run buses, but it is not proposed to go to
the outlay of purchasing a fleet of buses until data have been secured as to their performances. For this reason an arrangement has been made with Mr. A. A. Speak, of Express Motors, -under which the private company provides the buses and drivers and is responsible for the operation of the vehicles for a fixed sum per mile, whilst the Darlington Corporation is responsible for the provision of conductors and takes charge of the finances. This scheme was put into force on January 9th, and four Dennis 26-seater buses are in use, three being regularly employed and the other held in reserve. A 15-minute service is being given over a three-mile route, and at the end of six months the corporation will decide from the results secured whether to purchase a fleet of buses or to extend the existing trolley-bus system.
Where Buses are Ousting Trains.
Similarly, trolley-buses and motorbuses now reign in tt former tramway stronghold, West Hartlepool. Here the last remaining tram section, to Seaton Carew, is. in the near future, to be converted. The purchase of a number of Bristol 32-seater pneumatic-tyred buses
c52
to replace the old vehicles has enabled the corporation materially to reduce operating costs, and, at the same time, to increase receipts by providing services of greater frequency. The outcome is that last year, for the first time, the bus section showed a net profit, the amount being £632. Operating costs are now 8.99d. per mile. The trolleybus figures, too, were satisfactory. In order to make further developments, the original fleet of six 36-seater RaiHess buses and one 48-seater RaiRoss doubledecker has been augmented by the purchase of a number of C-laugh-Smith 32seaters. These are fitted with pneumatic tyres, the first of this type in this area.
The Middlesbrough and Stockton municipal bus systems both trace their inception from the same date. They were taken over in 1921, by the respective authorities, from the Imperial Tramways Co., Ltd., which, prior to that time, ran tram and bus services on Teessids.
Stockton's Profitable Buses.
Stockton now provides an admirable example of successful and efficient municipal motorbus operation. Each year the undertaking is showing a steadily growing net profit, which is being utilized for the purpose of making fleet augmentations and replacements. The original fleet of six vehicles has now been increased to 24, The bulk of which are Leyland 26-seaters arranged for one-man control. Only a week or two ago an order was placed for another 26-seater Leyland vehicle at a cost of £1,140 and three 31-seaters of the same make at a cost of £1,185 each. The present system covers 25 route miles. The corporation has found its system of weekly and quarterly passes of considerable value.
Middlesbrough and South Shields
have both failed in the past to make buses pay, but now that newer types of vehicle are being introduced on these systems it is hoped that better results will be obtained.
Middlesbrough to Buy Buses.
The tramways committee of the Middlesbrough Corporation has recently decided to go ahead with a portion of its bus-development scheme and to purchase six one-man-controlled buses at a cost of £6,600. At a recent meeting of tho corporation the committee recommended that 18 vehicles of this type should be bought at a cast of £1,100 each, but it was stated that a private passenger-carrying undertaking had
offered to provide vehicles and operate certain services provided the municipality would agree to provide drivers and conductors, and give the company
a share of the profits. At a subsequent meeting of the committee the town clerk stated that he had asked the company to put the offer in writing, but that he had received no reply, and the members thereupon decided to proceed with a part of the original proposal.
What Sunderland is Doing.
The Sunderland Bill, which is now in course of preparation, contains clauses to permit the municipality to operate bah motorbuses and trolley-buses, the proposal being to employ either or both to link up housing estates with the town_ The Bill includes a provision for the expenditure of £15,000 upon the purchase of buses and £20,000 for the erection of garages, workshops, etc. This authority has a fine example before it, for only a year or two ago the Sunderland District Transport Co., Ltd., scrapped its entire tramway system in favour of buses, and has made rapid headway since taking that step.