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THE LATEST NEWS OF IMPORTANT EVENTS

DARLINGTON'S TROLLEYBUSES • DO WELL.

THE municipal passenger-transport system of Darlington is maintained solely by trolleybuses and, in the year ended March 31, 1934, the vehicles were operated at a gross profit of £15,783, revenue having totalled £54,809 and working expenses £39,026. Interest on loans, income tax, etc., amounted to 29,903, which results in the total being reduced to a net profit of £5,880, this figure comparing with £4,131 in the previous year, when the grosS profit totalled £14,156. For the past 15 years there has been a gross profit on the municipal system.

The trolleybuses now operate over a route mileage of 11.38 and serve a popu

lation of approximately 73,000. During the past year the vehicles covered an aggregate mileage of 1,183,740 and carried 11,245,303 passengers. The corporation owns 34 trolleybuses—all single-deckers—although in the past • year the average number in use per day of 13 hours was 27. Each vehicle averaged 120.5 miles per day and travelled at an average speed of 8.63 m.p.h.

MASS MEETING OF OPERATORS.

LAST night a mass meeting of coach operators was held in Manchester under the auspices of the Coach Operators' Special Committee, North Western Area, the secretary of which is Mr. H. Timperley.

NEARLY 600 LEYLAND OILERS IN . S.M.T. FLEET.

WTE learn that the Scottish Motor W Traction Co., Ltd.; is still furthei increasing its .large fleet of Leyland Lion 'oil-engined buses. The company recently took delivery of the last oi the 110 single-deckers of this type, which were ordered some months ago, and has now• placed a further contract, through W. 'Alexander and Sons, Ltd., for another 25 of these models.

. The, S.M.T. concern now has nearly .600 Leyland oil-erigined. passenger vehicles in service Or on order.

• • .

The A.E.C. douhle,deckers for Belfast

Corporation,. described last week, are Regent models, and, not Regale. RAILWAY OBJECTIONS CANCELLED BY MR.. STIRK.

AANY applications to run excur/Visions to Blackpool were made to the East Midland Traffic Commissioners on Tuesday. Mr. J. H. Stirk, the chairman, expressed the opinion that the railway companies, which had entered an objection, had already more than their fair share of passenger traffic to that resort. Passengers arriving at '.he station, he said, were packed like sheep, and he felt that road operators should have part of that traffic.e' In granting an application feta service from Sic''egness to Blackpool, the chairman intimated that any further railway objection to applications concerning Blackpool need not be proceeded with

MAGISTRATES RULE THAT OWNER CAN BE "USER."

BARRY (Glam.) magistrates have now given their decision in the case which involved the legal point as to whether a bus owner, not driving a bus, could be charged with " using " a bus to carry excess passengers. The case was reported in The Commercial Motor on August 31.

A woman bus owner was summoned for " using" a bus which was overloaded and her sari, who was driver, was summoned for "permitting."

The defence had been that as the owner was not driving or in charge of the bus, she could not be charged with "using."

The solicitor for the South Wales Commissioners now contended that judgments of the High Court made it clear than an owner not in charge of a vehicle could be prosecuted for " using."

The'magistrates upheld the Commissioners' view and imposed a fine of £2 and costs on the operator and £1 on the driver.

Arising out of this case and cases in which two bus operators, Mr. G. Jorden, of Hereford, and Mr. E. Harrison, of Worcester, with their drivers, answered similar summonses for overloading in outings to Barry, the defending solicitor raised the point so often complained of by proprietors, namely, the effect of Regulation 14 of the Public Service Vehicles (Equipment and Use) Regulations as to the counting of juvenile passengers and the limitation of adult passengers to two, if three children are to be counted as two passengers.

TICKET RESTRICTIONS: ANOTHER APPEAL.

rrillE question of the prohibition of 1 the issue of single and period-return tickets on seasonal express services -from the coast is not yet concluded.

This problem was again raised in one of a batch of appeals by Birch Bros., Ltd., which was heard on Monday. The appeal in question was against the decision of the Metropolitan Traffic Commissioner. ft is said that he Unposed the conditions because the South Eastern Commissioners had done so, D60 although he did not agree with them in principle. In this connection it is pertinent to note that the Metropolitan Area is the primary area.

Mr. Raymond W. Birch, assistant managing director of Birch Bros., Ltd., conducted his own case.

HEBBLE TOUR DEAL.

A PPLICATION for the transfer of rAexcursion and tour backings held by R. Edwards and Co., Ltd., has been made to the North-western Traffic Commissioners by Hobble Motor Services, Ltd.

NEWPORT TRAMS TO GO?

KIEWPORT Corporation's electricity /'and tramways committee has taken tentative steps in the matter of the substitution of buses for trams, and reports from officials are being prepared.

OILERS FOR ACCRINGTON?

A CCRINGTON Transport Committee l'Ihas discussed the question of purchasing a number of oil engines inter

changeable with the present Leyland petrol . ;units, and has 'referred the matter to a sub-committee. The transport manager is to furnish information regarding the cost, etc., of conversion from petrol to oil engines, together with particulars of the adaptability of torque-converter transmission to existing vehicles.

OLD BACKING FEE GIVEN TO CHARITY.

THERE was a curious incident at 1 last Tuesday's sitting of the East Midland Traffic Commissioners, at Northampton. When Mr. F. Harrison, of Stockingford, applied for an excursion and tour backing, it was re

vealed that a fee of payable in connection with a similar licence granted two years ago was still unpaid. Mr. J. H. Stirk, the chairman, pointed out that the fee had now been abolished and, in granting the application, suggested that the £1 be given to charity. The sum was collected by a court official.

SWANSEA BAYS POPULAR FOR DAY TOURS.

SOME indication of the popularity in 1-)South Wales of the Swansea-district bays as centres for coach day trips was given by Swansea Chief Constable to Swansea Highways Committee. He said that at Caswall Bay, on a certain Sunday, 218 buses brought over 11,000 passengers.

MINISTER'S ALTERNATIVE TO LEEDS ROTA SCHEME.

AS independent coach operators and Leeds Corporation have failed to reach any agreement on the suggested co-ordination of Saturday afternoon services between the centre of the city and the chief football grounds in Leeds, the Yorkshire Traffic Commissioners have made a ruling.

At 10 a.m. each Saturday independent operators shall notify the corporation as to the number of coaches they propose to use. The ruling is not regarded with enthusiasm by the operators, who wished to inaugurate a rota scheme in conjunction with the corporation. It is understood that the reason why no agreement was reached on this proposal was because the corporation insisted on a proportion of three municipal vehicles to one independent coach.

It is argued that the independent operator cannot always know definitely at 10 a.m. oti a Saturday how many vehicles he will have available for the football services in the afternoon. The notification scheme was suggested to the Yorkshire Commissioners by the Minister of Transport when he dismissed Leeds Corporation's appeal against the granting of licences to the independent operators.

MORE BUSES FOR TRAMS IN YORKSHIRE.

FURTIIER substitution of buses for tramcars in the Halifax district is indicated by an application to the Yorkshire Traffic Commissioners by Halifax Corporation and the L.M.S. and L.N.E. Railway companies, operating bus services jointly, for permission to run new stage-carriage services between Halifax and Stainland. • In conjunction with this proposal, it is intended to discontinue the tramways between Salterhebble and Stainland.

Leeds Corporation is seeking authority to run buses to Morley, in place of the present tram service from Leeds to Morley and Bruntcliffe.

Huddersfield Corporation has also applied for permission to run buses in the urban districts of Gokar, Mirfield, -Slaithwaite, New Mill, Holmfirth, Marsden, Meltham, Linthwaite and Scammonden, and in the borough of Brighouse.

PLANS FOR BIG BOLTON BUS STATION.

BOLTON Corporation has considered a report by the borough engineer, outlining a suggested scheme for the construction of a bus station on the site of the former London, Midland and Scottish Railway warehouse in Deansgate and adjoining property, including the provision of a waiting room, offices, shops and conveniences, at a total approximate cost of 413,900.

Further consideration of the matter is to be deferred and the engineer is to prepare schemes for the bus station on sites at Old Wholesale Market Place, on land in Moor Lane, and the previously suggested site at Deansgate. LIVERPOOL'S TRANSPORT SYSTEM TO BE REORGANIZED.

'TO-DAY (Friday) Mr. W. G. Marks, I general manager of Liverpool Corporation's transport undertaking, will submit to the tramways committee his scheme for the reorganization of the entire tramways and bus system.

It will be recalled that Mr. Marks was previously Nottingham Corporation's manager, and his appointment at Liverpool created considerable interest. He states that Liverpool has fewer buses in proportion to its size than has any other city in the country.

NEW BUS SERVICtS FOR POOLE?

IN our issue dated August 10, we announced that Poole Corporation had decided in favour of an agreement with Hants and Dorset Motor Services, Ltd., for the extension of the bus system throughout the borough. The company has now made application to the South-Eastern Traffic Commissioners for licences for five services via the Upper and Lower Parkstone routes, and it is understood that Bournemouth Corporation will object.

Incidentally, Poole Transport Committee has informed the transport committee of Bournemouth Corporation that it cannot recommend the introduction of a trolleybus system, as proposed.

Bournemouth Corporation's tramways lease in respect of the Upper Parkstone Road is stated to expire in June, 1935.

LICENCE SUSPENDED FOR SIX MONTHS.

ASEVERE penalty has been imposed upon a Lancashire operator by the North-Western Traffic Commissioners, who have decided to suspend his licence for six months on the grounds of farecutting and the issue of period tickets in contravention of the terms of his licence. The licence holder is stated to be unable to read or write.

SCARBOROUGH'S REVENUE FROM TRANSPORT AGREEMENT.

UNDER its transport agreement with United Automobile Services, Ltd., during the financial year ended March. 21 last, Scarborough Corporation received £2,779, other small contributions making the total income £2,896. Charges on the loans raised to purchase the old tramways undertaking for £20,900 amounted to £2,137, which, along with other charges, brought eXpenditure under this heading to £2,321, leaving a profit of £575.

RENUMBERING LONDON ROUTES.

A S from October 3, London Transport r'iproposes to make extensive changes in• the identification numbers of its bus and tram services. One of the principal objects of the change will be simplification.

The basic numbers will remain largely as at present, but a suffix letter will replace the additional digit used to denote an extension or variation of the route. Numbers under 30 will be used for the central-area services, and the first 200 will be devoted to double-deck buses.