National fail in
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WALLACE ARNOLD has succeeded in preventing National Travel carrying inclusive tour passengers on some express services from Yorkshire to London. At a hearing of the Yorkshire Traffic Commissioners last week, Wallace Arnold director Geoffrey Steel said that if National were allowed to carry passengers booked on Bee-Line-National inclusive tours on express services then Wallace Arnold's inclusive tour business would be eroded.
National Travel (North East) Ltd has also been asked by the Yorkshire Traffic Commissioners to explain in writing how a fare between York and Doncaster, for which there was no licence authority, came to be advertised in its express service timetable, and to outline the steps the company has taken to put matters right.
The chairman of the Cornmissioners, Major-General V. H. J. Carpenter, at the close of the hearing into National's bid to operate daily services from the Yorkshire Coast to London, said they found it surprising that a repUtable operator should make a mistake of this sort.
National had applied to operate a daily express service from Scarborough, via Filey, Bridlington, Driffield, York, Doncaster, Luton, Luton Airport, Watford, to London; and to improve the present overnight service at weekends.
If successful, existing licences for a daytime service at weekends would be surrendered and the Felling-London service presently operated would no longer call at York and Doncaster.
The applications were opposed by British Rail, Wallace Arnold Tours Ltd and Norfolk Motor Services Ltd (CM April 16 and September 10.) Asking that a protective condition, preventing the use of the service as a basis for inclusive tours, be placed on the proposed licences, Mr Geoffrey Steel, a director of Wallace Arnold, said the present licences had such a condition and his company were suspicious about the lack of a similar clause in the application.
He also expressed concern about the marketing agreement between National and Bee-Line Roadways, saying that from the Bee-Line brochure it would appear that inclusive tours could be offered from any point on National's express coach network.
Mr Peter Fingret, for National, said there was no reason why express services should not be used for inclusive tour passengers. They were there to be used by anyone who wished to travel, for whatever purpose.
The rationalisation of the inclusive tour programmes of National and Bee Line could only be of benefit to the public and the operations would be in accordance with the licences held by the two operators.
Refusing the daily service but granting the improvement to the overnight facility at