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MINISTER SETS LIMIT ON VEHICLE ALLOWANCE T HE Minister of Transport

16th August 1963, Page 15
16th August 1963
Page 15
Page 15, 16th August 1963 — MINISTER SETS LIMIT ON VEHICLE ALLOWANCE T HE Minister of Transport
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has considered an appeal by the British Transport. Commission against thc decision of the Northern Traffic Commissioners to grant a variation • of the conditions attached to certain roadservice licences held severally by Lancashire-. United Transport Co. Ltd., Northern General 'Transport Co. Ltd., North Western Road Car Co. Ltd., United Automobile Services Ltd.. West YorkThire Road Car Co. Ltd. and Yorkshire Woollen District Transport Co, Ltd., authorizing a joint service of express carriage between Newcastle upon Tyne and Liverpool by way of Leeds ,and Manchester.

The Minister was satisfied that the Commissioners' decision was correct in principle, but considered that -a strict limit should have been put on the vehicle allowance.

The main features of this case. said the Minister, were that, on the one hand, the applicant had submitted figures showing there were enough passengers making " through" journeys to indicate a public demand for the proposed service. On the other hand, the existing railway service already offered a materially faster journey time. and the original coach service provided for those to whom the much lower fare by road more than offset the greater journey time.

The Minister said that one issue was whetherit would be right to deny to coach passengers the benefits, in quicker' journeys, which road improvements— among other things– -havemade possible. It could be fairly argued, he said, that a particular class of user should not be denied the advantages resulting from improvements of this kind and it would therefore seem to he wrong to refuse to license the better bus service here proposed; However, said the Minister. I cannot disregard the existing statutory obligations laid upon the Traffic Commissioners, and hence on . myself in considering appeals, to have regard to " the co-ordination of all forms of passenger transport, including transportby rail ". The issue here was whether the new faster bus service should be licensed to run with an unlimited vehicle allowance with a consequent risk of heavy abstraction of traffic from the railways. In all the circumstances, it seems appropriate, said the Minister, that the new service should he subject to a vehicle allowance.

The Minister accordingly set a vehicle allowance designed to give the respondents as nearly as possible the capacity required to satisfy the needs of " through" passengers, according to the returns for 1961 put in by the respondents at the inquiry before the Commissioners.


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