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RED ROVER

1st January 1965, Page 52
1st January 1965
Page 52
Page 53
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Page 52, 1st January 1965 — RED ROVER
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Which of the following most accurately describes the problem?

NIERPRISE.

By F. K. MOSES

Atowns and cities continue to "expand, spilling straggling housing estates all over the countryside, battles between local authorities and company bus undertakings as to who should operate to the new housing areas are becoming very common. In all too many instances, a municipality operating its own bus services has long since found that 50-50 joint services with the company operator in whose " territory " new housing areas may happen to lie are the only solution, and has had to toe the line accordingly.

In some cases it has been possible to establish co-ordination schemes between the local municipality and the company operator — indeed, such schemes were evolved in some areas many years ago. When, however, the local services are provided by a company operator, and the out-of-town services by an independent one, a very different situation arises. One could be forgiven for suggesting that in such circumstances, with the boot on the other foot, so to speak, the independent would not get a look in. Yet I am happy to say that this is not necessarily true, and an excellent illustration of this fact can be seen in Aylesbury, I3uckinghamshire.

Growth Town Centred in the rich agricultural vale of Aylesbury, the town may be best known for ducks and mail-train robbery trials, but it is, in fact, an industrial centre with printing and engineering works, and creameries, and a developing industrial estate to the west of the town. It has a population of some 29,000, an increase of 5,500 in four years. It ties only 40 miles from London, and under the Conservative plan for the south east was due for doubling, if not trebling, in size. A " conservative" estimate was that the town's, population might well be in excess of 60,000 in 20 years' time. Aylesbury is already surrounded by quite a number of housing estates, large enough to warrant bus services, even if frequent headway all-day services are not always required. How ever, work is well under way with the construction of a new estate which will eventually comprise some 900 houses. Even if the present Government introduces a complete freeze on the movement of population to the south east—which seems very likely—Aylesbury might well still have to expand to accommodate part of the London overspill, Meeting Point That part of Aylesbury where company and independent operator come into possible conflict is on the west and north sides of the town. Aylesbury is the meeting point of several operators —London Transport from the east, Thames Valley from the south, and City of Oxford from the south-west and west. Services from the north and north east are provided by United Counties, of Northampton, which is the "resident " bus operator providing most of the local services. However, a bus service along the 13icester Road to Waddesdon, thence in a loop through Quainton, returning across the Bicester Road to Westcott, and another service from Aylesbury to Buckingham, have been operated for many years by a local independent company, Red Rover Omnibus Ltd., of Aylesbury.

Much of the earlier development took place to the south and east of Aylesbury, but in 1957 the construction of new housing estates began inside the angle between the Bicester and Buckingham Roads. United Counties introduced the first service into these estates, which was an extension of a route already running along Bicester Road. Red Rover applied successfully for a service along Buckingham Road and into the opposite side of the estate to Weedon Road, whilst United Counties introduced an additional service also, to Weedon Road, but again from the Bicester Road side, both services starting in 1957. Later, in 1962, when the estate was enlarged, the two bus services were extended along a common route to the edge of the estate at Meadowcroft Road. At the same time Red Rover introduced a new service along Bicester Road, and into the most westerly part of the estates, this particular route being known as the Bicester Road Estate service.

One Bus an Hour The original Red Rover service to Weedon Road operated between 09.00 and 18.00 with II journeys a day. Now, however, the first bus leaves the estate at 07.45, followed by one bus an hour until 18.52. The first bus from Aylesbury is at 09.40 and hourly until 18.40. This means that the first two journeys of the day operate into Aylesbury only, but because the Red Rover garage is situated in Bicester Road, dead mileage is less than if a bus ran into the town first and then returned—almost empty—to the estate terminus. In any case, United Counties' service to the same terminus starts with an 07.05 journey to the estate and then every hour until 22.10, so that the estate is adequately covered all day. As Mr. R. Belgrove, Red Rover's traffic manager told me, there was no call for two operators on the estate after six o'clock in the evening, and the same applies to early morning journeys. The same also applies on Sundays, when the only service is an hourly one on the United Counties route.

Co-operation A more interesting example of cooperation, however, is on the Bicester Road side of the estate. Similar conditions apply to the weekday services as on the Weedon Road Estate, with Red Rover operating on its service between 07.15 and 1915,. United Counties providing a service all day on their adjacent route. On Sundays, however, Red Rover diverts its Westcott country service into the estate, providing an hourly service from early afternoon until 20.52 from Aylesbury and 20.40 into Aylesbury. On one of the nearby United Counties services, Sunday morning journeys are operated, but once the Red Rover service starts, the former service ceases for the day. The other United Counties service from the same side of the estate operates hourly on Sundays from the start of the Red Rover service to provide, with the latter, two buses an hour to and from the centre of the town, a similar arrangement to that on weekdays. With two bus operators and five distinct services, the residents of north-west Aylesbury are well provided for so far as public transport is concerned.

As already mentioned, next stage in the development of Aylesbury is the construction of a new housing estate which will eventually comprise at least 900 houses. This new estate lies in the angle between the Buckingham and Leighton Buzzard roads, on the north side of Aylesbury. Red Rover's service to Buckingham runs along the west side of this new area and is, in effect, a joint service with United Counties who run to Northampton via Buckingham. In fact, United Counties' 11.50 departure from Northampton to Aylesbury actually terminates at Buckingham, passengers with a through ticket continuing the journey on a Red Rover bus. However, the Aylesbury to Leighton Buzzard road is undoubtedly United Counties' territory, and it is natural that the company is planning to provide a service into the new estate from that side.

Under an agreement with United Counties, Red Rover applied to operate into the new estate from Buckingham Road along Elmhurst Road to the same terminus as the proposed United Counties' service and, the application having been granted, this new service will start early next year. Because of the potential size of the estate, an hourly service will be operated on the Red Rover service, from 07.24 to 22.14 daily, from Aylesbury. When the next stage of the estate is under construction, both the company and Red Rover services will be extended along a common route.

It will be seen from the foregoing that Red Rover is becoming well established as a town service operator in Aylesbury. The beginning of the company can be traced back to the days of pirate bus services, when Red Rover ran a pirate double-decker between Shepherd's Bush and Clapham Common, in London. Three brothers were concerned with this venture, Edward Cain being the chief. In 1925 they started an hourly express service between London and Aylesbury, establishing an office in Kingsbury Square, Aylesbury, which became the company's headquarters. The London service was extended to Buckingham and to the Waddesdon and Bicester areas. In 1932 the London to Aylesbury service was sold, Green Line taking over, but the country services were retained, and Cherry's of Waddesdon was added to the Red Rover strength.

In 1956 the last of the Cain brothers retired, and the goodwill of the company was sold to Keith Garages Ltd., also of Aylesbury, who have continued to operate Red Rover as a separate company. Keith Garages Ltd., whose premises in Bicester Road now accommodate the Red Rover vehicles, have operated a coach touring business for many years. The business was started in 1924 by Mr. A. F. Mills, whose son, S. H. Mills, is manager of the business today. Most of the work is private hire, excursions and tours, but a certain amount of contract work is also undertaken. A full programme B20 of excursions is run from Good Friday to the end of September each year, to destinations all over the South of England and the Midlands, and an express service to Bournemouth operates on Saturdays only from late June to mid September. The present fleet comprises six coaches, and two exLondon RT double-deckers, the latter used on the contract services. One of the coaches, a Duple-bodied Reliance, is operated on hire to Red Rover.

Rail Replacement Service

Following its aquisition by Keith Garages Ltd., Red Rover's development was not restricted to town services. On March 4, 1963, a new bus service was introduced between Aylesbury and Steeple Claydon when the passenger train service on the Great Central line was withdrawn from Calvert and Claydon Road stations. I understand that Red Rover were rather reluctant at first as no subsidy was to be paid for any possible losses on this service. However, the new route helped the independent company to strengthen its entrenchment in this area of Buckinghamshire, and the first two journeys in from Steeple Claydon on this five-times-aday, weekdays-only service regularly bring £12 takings. In fact, the 43seater coaches used on the service are proving to be too small for the traffic, and a new 53-seater single-decker is to be introduced next year.

Two ex-L.T.B. double-deckers were acquired in 1956, and so successful were they that the ex-London RT became the standard type of bus in Red Rover service for some years. Indeed they still outnumber other types in the company's fleet, and one of them (a Leyland-built RTL) has recently been given a new certificate

of fitness for a further three year's service, and another, acquired by Red Rover only three months ago, a certificate for three and a half years' service. Mr. C. Peters, Keith Garage engineer, swears by the RTs, two of which have done 350,000 miles with Red Rover. These buses are returning a fuel consumption of 10 m.p.g. on town service, and up to 11 m.p.g. on the country services.

Despite the success of these buses, the company feels that a better image is created by the operation of brand new vehicles, and in March, 1962, a new A.E.C. Bridgemaster with 74-seat, rear-entrance body was placed in service. This was followed by a second Bridgemaster, with forwardentrance, in February, 1963, whilst the most recent acquisition is a 74seat Park Royal-bodied A.E.C. Renown which entered service at the beginning of this month. These three buses are expected to meet the need for maximum-capacity double-deckers for some time, and any further replacements are likely to be maximum-capacity singledeckers, which will replace the 56-seat RTs. A new 53-seat Reliance with Marshall bodywork is due in the spring; however this is intended to replace the 43-seat Duple coach on the Steeple Claydon service.

All maintenance is done by Keith Garages, except vehicle painting, which is now done outside. On a recent visit I saw the RTL completely stripped down. The complete absence of rust on the bodywork was a tribute to the pains taken by London Transport when drawing up the specification of the RT. There is ample parking space at the rear of the Bicester Road premises to accommodate the very likely increase in fleet strength during the next few years.


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