LIMIT ON RAILWAY EMERGENCY SERVICES.
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THE Minister of Transport has de cided to limit to some degree the operation of emergency road services by the railways. Birch Brothers, Ltd., appealed against the Southern Traffic Commissioners' decision on an application by the London and North-Eastern Railway Co. for a licence for a stagecarriage service between any two points on the railway system, in place of a rail service, in the case of accident, engineering work or other emergency.
The 'Minister agreesthat such ser vices should be authorized. Where, however, the railway line is to be closed for engineering work, the Minister considers that application should be made for a licence for a specific road service.
He orders the Commissioners to attach to the licence of the L.N.E.R., conditions to secure that the service shall be operated only between those points on the railway system where there is an advertised rail service. It shall be operated only in emergencies outside the control of the company, and only during the period of interruption of the railway service.
Only holders of tickets for the railway journey in question may be carried. Where possible, prior notice of commencement of the bus service should be given to the Commissioners.
AREA VARIATION ORDERS.
THE Minister of Transport has now made the Road and Rail Traffic Act, 1933 (Date of Commencement) Order (No. 1), 1933, to bring Section 27 of, and the First Schedule to, that Act into operation. He has also made the Traffic Areas (Provisions on Variation) Order, 1933, to give effect to certain provisions rendered necessary by changes in boundaries. which will take place on January 1 next, Copies of the Orders will shcrtly be obtainable.
HINT TO BLACKPOOL OPERATORS.
BLACKPOOL Watch Committee has
• decided to instruct the town clerk to make representations to the Traffic Commissioners when next the coach proprietors who have defied the corporation make application for the re
newel of their road-service licences.
Some years ago, the watch committee decided to abolish the street stands. This aetiou was not taken, however, and there were frequent discussions at the town council meetings. The operators took the stand that, under the licences issued by the Traffic Commissioners, they were allowed to take up and set down passengers in the streets.
The corporation repliedthat this meant that the coaches could stop only a sufficient or reasonable time to pick up or set down passengers, and that if they remained longer, the proprietors would be prosecuted for obstruction.
PICKING-UP RESTRICTIONS IN SCATTERED AREAS.
AT a sitting in Leeds, last week, Major Chapple, general manager of the West Yorkshire Road Car Co., Ltd.,. told the Yorkshire Commissioners that it was suggested that operators of express services through scattered areas might seek increased picking-up points, so as to provide services between small places. On some routes, he said, local services had been inaugurated, sometimes at a loss, because of picking-up restrictions on the express services, when the needs of the intermediate districts could easily be met by the through coach services.
UNDERCUTTING INQUIRY DATE.
THE Northern Traffic Commissioners have postponed until December 19 the inquiry, announced in last week's issue of The Commercial Motor as to be held on December 12, into the alleged cutting of fares.
FIRST GLENCOE ROAD SERVICES.
THE Traffic Commissioners for Northern and Southern Scotland have given permission to David MacBrayne, Ltd., to run a summer bus service from Glasgow to Fort William. Through booking facilities have been granted to W. Alexander and Sons, Ltd., and Mr. J. Hutton Shiels, who will link up to provide a transport all the year round, 'Tickets on all three services will be inter-available. These will he the first services to operate on the new Glencoe Road. 90 MILES OF TROLLEY BUS ROUTES FOR LONDON. JUST too late for inclusion in last week's issue, London Transport announced that proposals were included in the Bill to be promoted by it in the current session of Parliament, for the substitution of trolleybuses for trams on about 90 miles of route. In the southwestern suburbs of London there are already 18 miles of trolleybus routes.
The new proposals represent the conversion of about a quarter of the total mileage of London tramways, and the accompanying map shows the routes to be dealt with. We understand that it is hoped to obtain Royal Assent to the Bill by about mid-summer next year, and that the change-over would occupy a few months.
FITNESS REGULATIONS AM&NDED.
THE Public Services Vehicles (Con ditions of Fitness) Provisional Regulations, 1931, which have been amended by various subsequent Regulations, have now been further modified by the Public Service Vehicles (Conditions of Fitness) (Amendment) (No. 2) Provisional Regulations, 1933.
The former regulations shall have effect as though to Regulation 2 the following paragraph was added "(VII) Regulation 10 and paragraph (b) and (c) of Regulation 13 shall not apply to any single-deck vehicle, provided that, under any condition of load, if the surface on which the vehicle stands were tilted to either side to an angle of 35 degrees from the horizontal, the point at which over-turning occurs would not be passed."
BUS VENTILATION CRITICIZED.
IN an address, at Liverpool, to members of the Institute of the Motor Trade, Mr. T. A. Heppenstall, M.Sc.,
I.A.C., declared that the development of motorbus ventilation dated back only some two or three years. One still found that most ventilators -would function only when the bus was travelling forwards, and some would cause the air to enter the ventilator and blow the vitiated atmosphere down on to the passengers, if the bus was stationary in a following wind.
"One often finds," he said, "that the ventilators are not mounted so as to take full advantage of the wind created by the movement of the bus. There is a flagrant example on the Wirral side, where, in spite of the ventilator being stamped with the word ' front' ori the leading edge, this edge is in nearly every case pointed towards the side of the bus."
HITCH IN RAILWAY . REPLACEMENT SCHEME.
THE London and North Eastern Railway Co., having withdrawn its pas senger service between Spean Bridge and Port Augustus, applications to replace it by bus facilities were made to the Northern Scotland Traffic Commissioners, last week. The applicants were David MacBrayne, Ltd., Glasgow, Messrs. MacIntyre and Son, Fort William, and Messrs. MacRae and Dick, Inverness.
It was stated that the railway company had come to an arrangement with Messrs. MacIntyre and Son, but the MueBrnyne concern contended that it had done more than any other to., open up the Highlands. The case wa.s adjourned. HINTS OF BIG NORTHERN COMBINE.
SOME remarks made at a sitting of the North-Western Traffic Commissioners seem to suggest that there is a movement on foot to combine a number of important bus companies in Yorkshire and Lancashire.
During the hearing of an application, Mr. J. Hanson, of J. Hanson and Son, Ltd., remarked that the Progress and John Bull services appeared to have been taken over by Ribble Motor Services, Ltd., but this was denied by Mr. W. J. Hart, assistant traffic manager of the last-named concern. Mr. Hanson maintained that the cheque in payment for the undertakings was issued by the Ribble concern.
Mr. W. Chamberlain, the chairman, stated that there was a grouping of companies in progress and the Commissioners ought to be informed of the
movements. Mr. Hart was not in a position to explain.
Mr. Chamberlain referred to a series of applications to the Yorkshire Commissioners by the West Yorkshire Road Car Co., Ltd., Yorkshire Traction Co., Ltd., Hebble Motor Services, Ltd., Wood Brothers (Blackpool), Ltd., Walker, Taylor and Sons, Ltd., W. Armitage and Sons, Ltd., and Ribble Motor Services, Ltd. Mr. Hart pointed out that, even if the applications were approved, the Ribble concern would not have taken over the Yorkshire services.
The chairman thought that the Commissioners were entitled to know how far this movement represented amalgamation or combination. They had to see that the deal was fair and, if any operator was excluded from a co-ordination arrangement, his interests must be protected.
W. MIDLAND COMMISSIONERS STRONGLY CRITICIZED. AN unusually severe criticism of the West Midland Traffic Commissioners was made by Mr. J. Lustgarten, during • the hearing of an appeal by the NorthWestern Road Car Co., Ltd. It appears that the company sought from the West Midland Commissioners a backing for a licence authorizing a hall-hourly service from Leek to Rudyard on Saturdays, between May and October.
A similar application was made by Mr. T. Gee, of Leek. Mr. Lustgarten maintained that the announcement of the North-Western concern's application in the West Midland Commissioners' gazette was delayed, although it appeared in the North-Western gazette. Some time afterwards Mr. Gee made a B48 similar application, and it was found that his proposed times ordinated with those of the North-Western company, although the latter had not, it was alleged, been advertised by the West Midland Commissioners.
The Commissioners granted an hourly service to Mr. Gee, but refused the appellant concern's application, suggesting, however, that the " North Western" should run a co-ordinated service with Mr. Gee. This the company refused to do, and alleged that the chairman of the Commissioners stressed circumstances in favour of the other applicant.
SWEDEN'S 3,000 BUS SERVICES.
IN proportion to its population,
Sweden now has the biggest bus and railway network in Europe, according to a report recently published in Stockholm The country has over 3,000 bus services with a total length of 60,575 miles. During the past year 350 new
routes, totalling 5,000 miles, were opened. The railway system is 10,457 miles long.
There are villages in the north where, only 10 years ago, the inhabitants had to travel by horsed carriage for three or four days and nights, at a cost of 50-70 kronen, to reach a town. They are now able to make the same trip by bus in 7-10 hours, at a cost of 9-12 kronen.
BIG MILEAGE REDUCTIONS TO FOLLOW MERGERS. IMPORTANT savings in mileage and the removal of various anomalies are
proposed as a result of the taking over of Varsity Express Motors, Ltd., Westminster Coaching Services, Ltd., and Pullman Lounge Coaches by the Eastern Counties Omnibus Co.' Ltd. The company has taken over the whole of the share capital of the first-named concern and the entire businesses of the others.
It was stated at a sitting of the
Eastern Traffic Commissioners that the company was applying for permission to transfer the Westminster and Pullman businesses to its own, and was required by the Metropolitan Commissioner to review the Yarmouth-London service and reduce mileage. The best method of dealing with the Varsity undertaking was considered to be to transfer the licences to the Eastern Counties concern, but, the public having become thoroughly accustomed to the familiar Varsity coaches and services, it should be maintained, with an indication that the vehicles were on hire to the Eastern Counties Omnibus Co., Ltd.
On the Cambridge-London route, it was hoped to save 140,000 miles a year. On the Bury St. Edmunds route it was proposed to reduce the winter journeys from 93 to 84 per week and summer journeys from 122 to 114. The LondonYarmouth services comprised 70 journeys per week in each direction during the winter, this figure to be reduced to 56, and the summer figure from 142 to 106. This action was hoped to save a mileage of 100,000 a year. It was also proposed to reduce the Chelmsford journeys from 127 to 116 a week in winter and from 179 to 161 a week during the slimmer.
LONDON'S LARGEST " INDEPENDENT " TO MERGE.
IT is reported that the largest hide pendent bus company in London, the City Omnibus Co., Ltd., will be taken over by London Transport on. December 13. The undertaking was formed sonic 10 years ago and now has 50 vehicles operating a six-minute service.
WILL " ANYWHERE " TICKETS -UNDERMINE FARES STRUCTURE?