PASSENGERS BY POST
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By
John Grindrod,
B.A. (Corn.)
STARTED in 1923, chiefly to improve the postal deliveries in those parts of Norrland, Sweden, in which there were no railways and where heavy snow often held up normal types of road vehicle, a road mail-passenger service, operated by the Swedish Post Office, has by today reached a substantial size.
The network covers some 4,500 miles of route. About 21m. passengers are carried each year, and the tonnage of mail and goods dealt with is estimated to be over 40,000. The longest single journey is of 214 miles from Umea to Borgafjiill, via Asele and Dorotea.
When the service was being pioneered, it was becoming increasingly difficult and expensive to use horse-drawn coaches because of a decline in the number of animals available and the growing demand for horses for lumber work. The Post Office therefore had particularly strong motor vehicles constructed: these also served as snowploughs in winter.
The first of these was Scania-Vabis, built on the lines of French desert vehicles. There were two rear axles, and drums were fitted to the rearmost, with rubber belts passing over the drums and the wheels fitted to the leading axle to provide a track-laying bogie. The four-cylindered engine drove through an eight-speed gearbox.
With this vehicle, which could carry 16 people in addition to mail, the first winter trial was run along a 50-mile stretch of road from Tvaralund Station to Lycksele.
In the early days, the carriage of passengers to occupy the space in the vehicles not taken up by mail—and at the same time to earn some revenue—was conducted on a modest scale and was offered on only a few routes. Today, the passenger facilities in the four most northerly provinces of the country are of great importance both to local inhabitants and tourists, in spite of growing competition from private cars, although the primary purpose of the vehicles is postal distribution.
The 275 Post Office vehicles cover about 20,000 miles a day, carrying a certain amount of goods as well as mails and passengers, and a regular service according to advertised timetables is maintained. In addition, a hire service, which is particularly busy in the spring and summer, is conducted to convey groups of tourists, schoolchildren and 'Sportsmen to places not served by the network, and to neighbouring countries. .
The Post Office have about. 200 modern and comfortable mail-passenger coaches, 10 .luxury tourist coaches., with ' adjustable sea Ling; publicaddress systenis, 25 lorries and :a number Of cars. The luxury coaches seat betWeen 30-40•passen: gers, Air-Conditioning is provided, the..passenger cornpartmenf being partitioned off from the cab.
In the v,ehicles forming the majority of the fleet, the passenger compartment is either integral with the space for the
goods, which may be up '.to half of the total. space, or there is a separate goods platform with a capacity of 2-3 tons behind the saloon. The size of the passenger compartment varies, but is Usually large enough to accoffirnodate 10-15 people. Some of the smaller buses tow trailers for the distribution of goods.
Servo Brakes
Seania-Vabis and Volvo chassis are used almost exclusively. The specifications of the models of both makes are almost identical. Latest types have a wheelbase of about 14 ft. 6 in., and are fitted with six-cylindered direct-injection engines of 91 litres developing 150 b.h.p. at 2,2.00 r.p.m. Gearboxes provide five forward ratios. Vacuum brakes are employed on the Scania-Vabis and compressedair equipment is fitted on the Volvo chassis.
113odwork is supplied mainly by Hagglund and Sorter and Svenska
arosseriverk staderna. HNgglund make steel-framed bodies, and Svenska Karosseriverkstiiderna integral bodywork of plywood joined with synthetic resin. Outside panel
ling of both makers bodies is of aluminium and interior panelling of plastics. Roof, floor and sides are double-skinned with thermal insulation media sandwiched between the inner .and outer panels.
Heating equipment for the Vehicles of the type whereby, water from the engine is piped through Matrices, through the gills of which a current Of air is induced by fans. Heated air is 'distributed through duets. Windscreen defrosting nozzles are provided. Dodrs have automatic opening gear.: _
There has:been A steady fall in pas
senger carrying in recent years because of competition from priVate cars, and the transport of goods has assumed greater importance. The layout of the buses has therefore been adapted to provide more space for goods and less for passenger accommodation.
Most of the mail-passenger services start from coastal towns or from towns on the railway, and lead into the heart of mountainous country. Two or more services are run daily on busy routes, one being an express. Combined railway and coach tickets are available and seats may be reserved.
:Overhauls and Maintenance
Regular vehicle maintenance is done at workshops built by the Post Office for exclusive use by mail-passenger coaches, or in rented premises at various places.
Major overhauls are performed on vehicles after a mileage interval of 200,000 at the Post Office's own workshops at Stoekholm, Where all' their vehicles are dealt with. A large workshop intended for overhauls to the coaches is being built in the centre of the network in the north, and is expected to be ready for full operation soon.
The Postmaster-General's office at. Stockholm is responsible for :the management and supervision of the services, and attends to matters such as licensing, the compilation' of timetables and the engagement of staff. Technical matters are the concern of the manager of the Post Office industries section, who has a fully qualified technical. staff to advise him on vehicle selection.
Permission for the Post Office to operate regular .coach services is granted by the Government, whilst timetables and fares are fixed by the Postmaster-General. LicenCes are granted by county councils. or the State Motor Traffic Boardjor contract-carriage operation, and there are stipulated charges whieh may not be exceeded.
Route Control
Each route is under the immediate control of the local Post Office, whose postmaster discharges the duties of traffic manager. Where a local service is extensive, the postthaster has an assistant manager. This obtains in six of the 11 traffic districts into which the mail-passenger network is divided.
A link with the past is the yellow livery of the vehicles, the same colour as the old-time horse-drawn mail coaches. Some of the modern coaches are also fitted with oldfashioned post-horns which are sounded to proclaim the arrival of mail. 'A' journey through northern Sweden, especially in winter, can still be an adventure. The tradition of the service is that the mails must get through, and this is lived up to.