Commissioners on Test Run
Page 15
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THREE Traffic Commissioners, two
police inspectors and two officials of Westmorland County Council were among the 11 passengers aboard a 49-seater, single-decker bus that wound its way up the sinuous Kirkstone Pass in the Lake District on Tuesday.
The trip was part of an inquiry into an application—the first in the Northern traffic area—by Scottish Omnibuses Ltd., Edinburgh to operate the larger types of buses built to the box dimen sions authorized in August, 1961, and Mr. J. A. T. Hanlon, chairman of the Northern Traffic Commissioners, was a member of the party.
A hearing in Newcastle last May was adjourned so that a test run in one of the new buses could be arranged. The route chosen. was from Patterdale to Windermere over Kirkstone Pass—one of the most hilly and twisting routes in the country.
The bus was a new model provided by Ribble Motor Services (as an interested party) and measured 36 ft. by 8 ft. 2+ in. Under the old Act the maximum allowed was 30ft. by 8 ft.
R ibble has been using these larger-type buses since their introduction earlier this year and the driver on this occasion said he had driven similar buses over Kirkstone Pass with little difficulty.
The test journey was fairly uneventful and the round trip to Windermere and back took less than 11 hours. Steep ascents were negotiated comfortably and little trouble was experienced even when meeting other coaches, although the driver found it necessary to almost stop on one or two Occasions. It was never found necessary to reverse.
There was not a great deal of traffic on the road and on the few occasions when a number of vehicles built up behind, driver J. Armstrong courteously waved them on at a straight piece of road wide enough for them to pass. Actually there are not many opportunities on this type of road for following traffic to overtake without a vehicle of such size deliberately slowing clown.
No Abstraction from Rail
THE Northern Traffic Commissioners, at Newcastle upon Tyne, have rejected an application by the Priory Motor Coach Co., North Shields. to run excursions and tours from North Shields, Tynemouth and Whitley Bay, to holiday camps at Filey (Yorks) and Ayr (Scotland).
The application was opposed by British Railways, who said they already operated special trains to these camps from Newcastle and, on occasions, these trains were two-thirds empty. The proposed bus fares, it was stated, would be about half the rail fare. Mr. J. A. T.• Hanlon, chairman of the Commissioners, said that if the application was granted. it would take traffic from the special trains.