Public Should Give Stage Operators Private Hire, Says Mr. Hanlon
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THE Traffic Commissioners could not protect licensed operators from those who ran contract carriages with part-time drivers, at cut prices, but people in rural districts should support local stagecarriage operators by giving them their private-party work, even if they had to pay a few pence more, Mr. J. A. T. Hanlon, chairman of the Northern Commissioners, said last week.
The Commissioners granted a licence to Messrs. Burn and Farrey (Kingsway Coaches), Langley Park, for a new daily stage service between Burnhope and Durham. After representations by Lanchester Rural District Council to Northern General Transport Co., Ltd., and Mr. Mowbray to take over the service had failed, the National Union of Mineworkers made a direct approach to Mr. J. W. Ainsley, M.P. for North West Durham, who called a village meeting last September and pledged himself to find an operator in his constituency to do the job.
Burn and Far rey had agreed to run. and although their fares were substantially higher than those of the previous, operators, the council did not consider them unreasonable.
Mr. R. G. Hunter, for J. S. Mowbray, J. H. Hammell, A. Logan, A. Gillingham and E. H. Carr, stage operators out of Durham, with services over part of the proposed route, said the timings on Saturdays, although agreed with Northern General, would mean that the applicants' buses would leave Durham at the same time as those of the objectors. If the proposed service were maintained it might be at their expense. They had no objection to a take-over of the original service without modification, but it was proposed to vary what had been in force for many years.
After Mr. t Burn had said he had no objection• to a grant with the original timetable, Mr. R. Croft, for Northern General, said that although this would mean more competition for his own company, they Were prepared to agree in the interests of the smaller operators.
Mr. Hanlon commented that Northern General were to be commended for their decision. Whenever possible, the big companies should give way in the interest of small operators running unremunerative or nearly unremunerative services.
The applicants were granted dispensation to run without a conductor, except at peak periods.
An application by Armstrongs Motor Services, Ebchester, to run a Saturday service over the same route was withdrawn,