PASSENGER TRAVEL NEWS.
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The Latest Doings and Developments in the Bus and Coach World.
HOLIDAY COACHING AT BLACKPOOL.
The Popularity of the Marshall Street Coaching Station. What this is Doing to Help Owners.
BANK HOLIDAY brought a record influx of motor coaches to Blackpool, the centre which has few, if any rivals throughout the country so far as the popularity of motor coaching is concerned. Row many coachek actually visited Blackpool on the Saturday preceding Bank Holiday it would be impossible to estimate, but from early morning till late at night there was a constant stream of vehicles along the splendid road from Preston, passing through Kirkham, to Blackpool, which constitutes the main approach to the town. As the hours passed the stream grew in intensity, and at the busiest hours it was almost unbroken.
In the morning the coaches arrived from the nearer towns in Lancashire, many with day. passengers, whilst others were loaded with luggage in one or more rows of seats, and carried visitors who were to remain for the week or more; there was also a number of empty coaches, apparently going out. to bring
back passengers who had spent their holidays at this popular centre.
Later in the day, coaches from the more distant Yorkshire and Lancashire towns commenced to arrive, while in the early evening, when the stream of traffic from Blackpool was more pronounced, a large convoy of coaches from Birmingham and the Midlands was noticed. One coach, from Birmingham, of the saloon type, was notable for the large -amount of luggage which it carried on the roof, the passengers' impedimenta including bicycles and baby carriages, together with the usual assortment of travelling cases and bags. The coaches certainly outnumbered every other form of traffic, with the possible exception of motorcycles.
This route of approaCh afforded a remarkable indication of the growth of mechanically propelled road traffic. Horse vehicles were certainly greatly in, the minority, and pedestrians were very rare. The road scouts of the various
motoring organizations were more numerous than the police, but that latest innovation of the police force intended to cope with fast-moving traffic, the motorcycle constable, patrolled the road the whole day through, and undoubtedly had a good effect in stopping reckless driving and preventing obstructive tactics.
Other indications of the importance of inechanically propelled vehicles were afforded by the number of patrol wagons sent out by garages and engineering works to be of assistance in case of mis-.1 hap on the road. Several of these vehicles were observed bearing huge placards, asking anyone and everyone to stop the driver in case they had any mechanical defect or required oil, petrol, tyres, or spares. Roadside garages and petrol supply stations have also sprung up at points which appear to be miles from anywhere, and being temporary structures of wood and corrugated iron, for the most part, give an American appearance which contrasts strangely with the old. windmills of this flat Fen-like country.
In Blackpool, the coach traffic sorted itself out and proceeded to the motor coach stations and other parking grounds. At the Blackpool motor coach station in Marshall Street, a representa
film of The Commercial Motor found that the coaches were being unloaded arid" parked with the least possible delay, and without the least sign of congestion or confusion. We were told, during a lull in the activities, that Motor coaching in the North of England appears to be on the increase. This season the number of coaches visiting this coach station has been greater, than it was at the corresponding date last year, over 5,000 vehicles having passed through. the.
the. station.
As a matter of fact, up to four o'clock on the Saturday afternoon preceding the hank Holiday 150 coaches had been admitted, and there was a constant stream in and out of the station at that hour. Coach proprietors are realizing that their patrons appreciate the services provided at the station, and large numbers of meals are being served in the cafe. .1 he passengers also appreciate the cloak rcom and " wash-and-brush-up " facilities provided, whilst for those who have spent a holiday in Blackpool and desire to return home by coach, the station has done a great -deal towards getting passengers into touch with vehicles returning to the locality in which the visitor resides.
The officials of the station have this year done much to prevent empty running of coaches by arranging for return loads for coaches which have brought in long-date visitors, but in this connection they informed our representative that they were only sorry they could not do more. " If only the owners of coaches would sink their little differences and try to work together a little, we should be able to save them pounds," it was remarked.
In some centres, we were informed, coach owners are organizing this season to ensure that two coaches de not make the same journey with half a load each, but much more might be done in this
matter. An interchange of work between neighbouring towns might be arranged much better than is being done at prespt, however, although the of11,2ials at the coach station are making increasing efforts to arrange that vehicles which come in with full loads of passengers who are staying the week or more do not go back empty.
North-country holidays are spread over July, August, and September, and neighbouring towns often observe successive weeks as their local holidays. In such cases, if organization is lacking, coaches run out with passengers from one town on a Saturday, travel back home empty in the'evening, and then go out empty on the following Saturday to collect their loads, whereas for the two empty journeys passengers could often he found to or from a neighbouring town. An instance was given where Halifax coaches were:sent •back with Bradford passengers, and vice versa. These cases obviated local owners making a day's journey for a few shillings per head, and thus everybody gained. In addition to the Marshall Street Station, there were big congregations of coaches at other points, notably at the Coliseum, and as Saturday is an off-day for local coach owners, many Blackpool vehicles were away in various parts of the country taking home visitors who had completed their holiday.