B.R. Not Fast Enough—Merchants
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A LLEGATIONS that British Railways r-k were unable to provide a service under four days between Halifax and Witney, Oxon, were made at Leeds, last week, when Oliver and Sons, Greetland, Halifax, sought a B licence to carry machine parts to Witney and Stroud.
They were opposed by British Railways and British Road Services, but the applicants claimed that B.R.S. took.nearly as long as the railways—they wanted to carry full loads so small consignments bad to wait.
For Oliver's, Mr. Butterfield said the service envisaged was a desirable one which would be far better than existing facilities. The company were wool merchants and at present operated the vehicle on C licence, involving a lot of empty running. The application was designed to enable them to carry pieces of wool and urgent orders for textile 'machinery parts to deal with breakdowns in mills. Previously they had done this work free as an "act of kindness." , The loads would be small, and full consignments of their own materials would be returned to Halifax. Two journeys were made each week.
For B.R.S. it was stated that they had foreign-based vehicles reporting at Halifax for hackloads, whilst vehicles from Oxford and Birmingham would be prepared to carry the small consignments mentioned to avoid empty running.
Mr. T. B. Atkinson, for the British Transport Commission, was invited by Maj. F. S. Eastwood, Yorkshire Licensing Authority, to rebut the evidence that the railways took four days to do the work. Mr. Atkinson said he had to agree with the witness, but the application was still an undesirable one which would take the bread and butter away from existing operators.
Maj. Eastwood said need had been proved for a restricted licence, probably allowing only machinery to be carried. He would announce his decision on the case later.