Bus Competition Worries Ferry Co.
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FEARS that the district would in the near future lose its train service and that the ferry might prove unprofitable and be withdrawn if the application were granted, were expressed when Plymouth Transport Department and the Western National Omnibus Co., Ltd., asked the Western Licensing Authority, at Plymouth, last week, for permission to run a new stage service between St. Andrew's Cross, Plymouth, and the Mount Batten Royal Air Force Station, Plymstock, It was stated that the application was made primarily at the request of the R.A.F. Station, and was supported by the local eo uncil.
For the applicants it was stated that the Preston and Turachapel Steamboat Co., which opposed the application, was dependent on the weather and landed passengers at Phoenix Wharf, which was an inconvenient point for those who wished to reach Plymouth's city centre. A bus service to Hooe was already in existence, but the turnround there was too rapid, and there was no transport between Hooe and the R.A.F. Station.
A witness said that he understood the Railway Executive was contemplating the cessation of the train service between Plymouth and Turnchapel. The objector contended that the Turnehapel community and the R.A.E. Station were already served by road, rail and sea, and that if a new bus service were operated, one or more of the existing services would prove uneconomical. The ferry was run at a loss during the winter, and if there were a considerable reduction in tratTio; it might have to be withdrawn.
The Licensing Authority granted the application for a service between St. Andrew's Cross and Breakwater House, Mount Batten.