Tyneside insignia chosen but row
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goes on by Derek Moses
• The insignia to be employed by the new Tyneside Passenger Transport Executive has now been chosen, and will be displayed on the side of the Newcastle and South Shields buses which pass to the Executive on January 1.
The design consists of a central blue line, representing the River Tyne, and black lines, representing movement, with a link across the river representing the link between Newcastle and South Shields. In actual fact, although the city's buses operate joint services with Gateshead and District (a Northern General and hence NBC subsidiary) south of the Tyne, the buses stop about three miles short of the nearest point on the South Shields system, with a large network of NBC services in between.
Attempts by Newcastle City Council to persuade the Tyneside PTE to set-up subsidiary undertakings to operate the present Newcastle and South Shields fleet as separate undertakings (CM October 10) seem to have failed. The director-general of the PTE, Dr. T. M. Ridley, described the council's suggestion as "premature". A further letter from the council on November 11 brought no reply, but a letter sent on December 1 evoked a reply on December 5, a letter to the Newcastle Journal written by Cllr. Neville Trotter, chairman of the Newcastle traffic, highways and transport committee no doubt
In his December letter, Dr. Ridley reiterated that the time for such a decision was premature. It could very well "compromise the successful outcome of our complex discussions and negotiations with the other public transport operators", he wrote. Dr. Ridley denied that there was any attempt on their part to "evade the issue". (C11r. Trotter had claimed that the decision would remain "premature" until the actual takeover on January 1 presented a fait accompli.
Under the circumstances, it is interesting that the Press release announcing the new insignia, which arrived in this office on December 12, quite clearly states that from January 1, South Shields and Newcastle buses will become Tyneside buses, and that the former undertaking's blue livery will be replaced by Newcastle City Transport's distinctive yellow livery.