B.T.C. Loses £20,800,000

22nd September 1950, Page 102

22nd September 1950

Page 102

Page 102, 22nd September 1950 — B.T.C. Loses £20,800,000

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Road Services Show Profits. Commission Will Continue with the Northern Area Scheme, Says Lord H urcomb i_ AST year, the British Transport Commission lost £20,800,000. 4 This deficit was incurred, the Commission states in its report for the year endedDecember 31, 1949, which was published yesterday, despite improved efficiency in carrying operations and savings achieved by reductions in staff and other measures.

In submitting the report to the Minister of Transport, Lord Hurcomb, chairman of the Commission, said that

the revenue position had been disappointing, but the B.T.C. had continued to press for the utmost economy compatible with efficient service to the public.

The Commission's road services, other than those run by the railways for collection and delivery, were, however, profitable.

B.R.S. Profit £1,431,721

British Road Services recorded net receipts of £1,431,721. A• balance of £4,257,982 was shown on the operation of the provincial and Scottish road passenger transport groups,.and London Transport's road services yielded a balance of £2,937,230. Collection, delivery and other road services of British Railways lost £3,699,847.

The gross receipts of British Road Services, at £38,850,939, compared with working expenses. of £37,419,218. The percentage of working expenses to gross receipts was 96. Vehicle operating costs amounted to £16,959,434, maintenance and depreciation to £9,122,722, other traffic costs to £3,396,496, maintenance of buildings, etc., to £162,322, vehicle licence duties to £1,106,175, and general expenses to £6,672,069. Administrative expenses of the Road Haulage Executive totalled £732,920.

The B.T.C.'s provincial and Scottish bus undertakings earned gross receipts of £35,823,033 and worked at a cost of £31,565,051, giving a ratio. of expenses to receipts of 88 per cent. Vehicle operating costs worked out at £17,811,372, maintenance and depreciation £7,753,793, other traffic costs £2,535,951, maintenance of buildings,• etc., £533,105, vehicle licence duties £794.771, and general expenses £2,136,059.

London Transport Costs

London Transport's road services yielded gross receipts of £42,206,574, compared with working expenses of £39,269,344 — a ratio of 93 per cent. Vehicle operating costs amounted to £22,199,081, maintenance and depreciation to £7,777,096, other traffic costs to £4,737,352, maintenance of buildings, etc., to £1,269,842, vehicle licence duties to 1768,268, and general expenses to £2,517,705.

British Road Services carried 27,198,000 tom and travelled 370,03,000 miles, of which 300,162,000 were loaded and 70,321,000 (19 per cent) empty.

Increases were shown in the number of patisergers carried and miles run by the road passenger transport undertakings. The Tilling and Scottish groups together carried 2,118,027,000 passengers, an increase of 4.7 per cent, over the figure for the previous year, and covered 488,966,000 vehicle-miles, an increase of 4.6 per cent. London Transport's buses and coaches carried 2,745,302,000 passengers and ran 313,414,000 miles.

The British Transport Commission has substantial interests in road transport and other undertakings which it does not control. At December 31 last, the book value of the Commission's investments in the B.E.T. group was 14,252,316, and the gross dividend from this source totalled £1,369,666, investments in other coach and bus companies totalled £438,379 and yielded dividends of £63,900. Investments in joint bus services with local authorities totalled £2,174,668 and they produced dividends of £168,006. With its other investments, the Commission's interests in non-controlled undertakings totalled £9,810,843, and its income from these sources for the year amounted to £1,644,188.

Referring to the proposed Northern Area scheme, the report says that the Commission has taken careful account of the observations and representations made by local authorities, operators and others, and has adopted some of the suggestions.

At a Press conference, Lord Hurcomb, chairman of the B.T.C., said that the Commission was working out the final details of the scheme and proposed to continue with it, despite opposition.

In addition to its work on the Northern and Eastern Area schemes, the Road Passenger Executive began research "upon a number of problems which will arise as and when area schemes are further developed, including the question of alternative forms of administrative structure for areas."

The Bristol Tramways and Carriage Co., Ltd., produced 522 double-decker and 374 single-decker chassis, and made substantial progress in the development of a new underfloor-engined chassisless vehicle. Eastern Coachworks, Ltd.,

built 627 double-deck and 340 singledeck bodies.

On the subject of co-ordination and integration, the report states that the Standing Conference on Co-ordination last year arranged for the whole of the transport facilities in East Anglia to be surveyed and, later, a review of services in the Isle of Wight was undertaken. "Further areas may be subjected to critical examination from time to time," the report acids.

At the beginning of 1949 the B.R.S. general-haulage traffic was fair, but during March, April and May it improved considerably until the normal slack period during the summer. A good recovery was made during the latter part of August and continued through September and October. Traffic fell off towards the end of the year. The level of parcels traffic generally was satisfactory throughout the year.

Canvass for Custom

When an undertaking is acquired," the report states, "the Executive's local officers take the earliest possible oppor-. tunity of approaching its customers in order to explain to them the scope and intentions of the Executive and to dispel any doubts the trader might have about the service to be given, compared with that to which he had been accustomed..

"Contact was made at headquarters level with many important country-wide traders, and this has been successful in some measure in retaining to the Executive the goodwill of the private haulage undertakings acquired.

"Particular attention was given to traders who were known to incline towards obtaining and operating their own fleets of C-licence vehicles.

"Where it seemed appropriate, such traders were invited to enter into a period contract with the Executive for the exclusive use of vehicles painted and lettered to 'their own specification, . . . The level of such contracts held was just maintained—a reasonably satisfactory. position during this major change-over period."

New Trunk Services

The report mentions that a number of new trunk and regular services was built up during the year, and many services already in existence were reorganized to suit the changing demands of the traffic.

"All long-distance routes are under constant examination with a view to the further development of regular services. and the reduction of empty running and uneconomic journeys," adds the report. Looking into the future, the Commission states: "Only the most strenuous endeavours will bring a disappearance of the deficit on net revenue account carried forward in 1950 and amounting to the sum of £25.5 m.—a figure likely to be increased by the end of that year." The urgency of building up a general reserve is stressed.