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More Coach Tours to Eire

11th April 1958, Page 51
11th April 1958
Page 51
Page 51, 11th April 1958 — More Coach Tours to Eire
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Which of the following most accurately describes the problem?

AAN application by Reliance Motor Services, Ltd., to run coach tours to Eire from Newbury, Berks, was opposed by Mr. J. Stevenson, traffic manager of Thames Valley Traction Co., Ltd., before the South Eastern Traffic Commissioners at Reading last week.

Mr. Stevenson said that an associated company, South Midland Motor Services, Ltd.; had been granted a licence for tours -to Eire, the nearest picking-up point to Newbury being at Oxford, 30 miles away. Statistics showed that 4 passengers per departure came from the Newbury area and represented £65 to the company: their contribution meant a marginal profit without which the tours would be run at a loss.

For the applicants it was stated that potential passengers came from a population. of 73,000 and that increased local prosperity was reflected in the demand for such tours. Co-operation from both British Railways and from the Irish Tourist Board was encouraging and there was little risk of lack of support from the The Commissioners granted a licence for two tours this season, adding that the application had been treated on its merits. There was evidence of inconvenience in passengers travelling from Newbury to Oxford by stage service, a journey of an hour and 40 minutes.

SIX-HOUR DAILY LICENCE EXTENSION

AN application by Mr. George T. Fairweather, of Arbroath, for an extension of his licence to enable him to carry fish to Aberdeen was supported by the Arbroath Fishermen's Association last week.

It was said in support of the application that the catching power in Arbroath had greatly increased. Missing the principal afternoon market might halve the price at the morning sale the following day, and traders preferred to send their fish to Aberdeen. The catch, however, had to he there between midnight and 4 a.m.

The Scottish Deputy Licensing Authority granted the application, to operate between. the hours Of 10 p.m. and 4 a.m.

TWO PAPERS FOR M.P.T.A. TWO papers are to be presented

1 during the annual conference of the Municipal Passenger Transport Association in Blackpool from September 8-12. Cllr. C. Blackwell. of Manchester, will deal with "Labour Relations in the Municipal Passenger Transport Industry." Mr. N. Morton, general manager of Sunderland Transport Department, will speak on "Public Control without Nationalization—A Plan for the Motorbus Industry."

This programme replaces the usual practice of reading one paper and briefly debating about half-a-dozen controversial items.

Income 34.8d. a Mile : £13,300 Loss

IN spite of a fare income of 34.8d. per

I mile, claimed to be among the highest in the country, Reading Corporation's transport undertaking incurred a loss of £13,300 in 11 months, it was stated at a meeting of the town council. In the previous year, a profit of £13,500 had been made.

Aid. T. W. Knight tried unsuccessfully to persuade the council to dispose of 13 buses instead of 10 as planned. I-le added that the Bennet Road depot was costing £4,007 a year, without taking into account labour, rates and other charges, to garage. 25 vehicles, one of which had not turned a wheel for three years.

Cllr. D. L. Stoddart, chairman of the transport committee, pointed out that they were running a dual service with motorbuses and trolleybuses which in some respects lacked versatility. They had been bold indisposing of 10 buses, but they must leave the transport manager with the machinery necessary to maintain services.

E44 Fines on Hours Charges

'FINES totalling 144, with costs of I £10 10s., were imposed by Bournemouth magistrates, last week, on Elliott and Son (Bournemouth), Ltd., bedding manufacturers. The Company pleaded not guilty to 10 cases of permitting a driver to use a vehicle for a continuous period of 51 hours without half-an-hour's rest and to two cases of permitting use with less than 10 hours' consecutive rest in 24 hours.

The operators admitted 10 cases of permitting the driver to use the vehicle for continuous periods in the aggregate of more than 11 hours in 24 hours.They askAil for four other cases to be taken into consideration.

Mr. Leonard Thomas, a traffic examiner of the South Eastern Area, said that the driver's records showed that he had worked periods of between 61 and 94 hours without half-hour breaks: He had worked from 111 to 141 hours in periods of 24 hours and had had 91 hours instead of 10 hours' rest in a similar period..

The driver, Mr. John Taylor, said that he had never been instructed how to complete the logsheets and that he was satisfied that he was not overworked. For the defence it was stated that the driver could not remember whether he had had proper breaks, that errors had been' made in the log sheets and that on some occasions there had been mechanical breakdowns.

SURVEY RESULT EXPECTED WITH CONFIDENCE

Pl.A NCILLARY users could await with confidence the result of the survey to be conducted by the Ministry of Transport this month into the operation of goods vehicles, said Mr. S. C. Bond, president of the Traders' Road Transport Association, at the annual meeting of the East Midlands Division at Nottingham last week.

He attacked criticisms that had been levelled against C-licensees which were " largely theoretical and in many cases based on bad sources of information." There was appreciably no more empty running in C-licence than in Aor Blicence vehicles, he said. The British Transport Commission should look at their own empty running before they criticized other forms of transport.

The divisional chairman, Mr. K. C. Turner (who was re-elected), stated that if the railways' recapitalization programme did not succeed, there was little doubt that "the heat will be turned on the C-licence holder in order to regain lost traffics."

NO SPECIAL A LICENCE

THE West Midland Licensing Authority has refused to grant a special A licence to Mr. T. P. Wootton. 560 Coventry Road,. Birmingham, 10, for a vehicle of 61 tons unladen, on the ground that from the new base it.could not conveniently serve the areas previously covered.


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