T HE question whether a public undertaking should be allowed to
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subsidize a private coach operator was raised at Leeds, this week, when appeals against grants by the Yorkshire and .North Western Traffic Commissioners were heard by Sir Hugh Dow. The Minister of Transport's decision on the link between British European Airways and Wallace Arnold (Tours), Ltd., may create a precedent for coach operators serving airports all over the country.
The basis of the appeals was the grant of a licence to Wallace Arnold to run express services from the West Riding, over the Pennines into Manchester Airport. The service, between Leeds and Ringway, with picking-up points at Bradford, Huddersfield and Stockport, had been granted until the end of November.
British Railways challenged the decision in both areas, whilst the Northern Pool of bus companies appealed against the Yorkshire Commissioners' grant. The Northern General Transport Co., Ltd., the North Western Road Car Co., Ltd., and Lancashire United Transport, Ltd., appealed against the decision of the North Western Commissioners.
Mr. James Booth, for British Railways, submitted that rail services to Manchester, with the bus link between the air terminal 400 yd. away, and Ringway. were adequate. Any hardship in transferring from trains to the airport applied in Lancashire as well as Yorkshire,
"Try On" Alleged He maintained that the application was a " try on." Wallace Arnold were to be subsidized by B.E,A, to afford them a greater facility than that enjoyed by operators in the Manchester area. It was a surplus uneconomic service, supported by abstraction and subsidy, and would damage existing operators.
For the road operators, Mr. .W. R. Hargrave pointed out that trunk services to Manchester from Leeds, Huddersfield and Bradford had been operated for 30 years. No suggestion had been made to any operator that there was increasing traffic from the West Riding, but any development which did take place should be catered for by existing operators.
Putting the case for Wallace Arnold, Mr. F. A. Stockdale claimed that under the existing arrangement, passengers had to make two changes on top of a 50-mile journey if they were bound for the airport. This was inconvenient, and the change at Manchester alone justified a grant. A direct link was needed to reorganize the whole route.
In addition, the fundamental issue was not one of principles, but whether the Commissioners should be allowed to exercise their discretion to find out whether there was a need. They had done so in this case, as was shown by the short duration of the licence.