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Moving the country t• the city

23rd May 1981, Page 58
23rd May 1981
Page 58
Page 59
Page 58, 23rd May 1981 — Moving the country t• the city
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Which of the following most accurately describes the problem?

E JOURNEY from Central 'don to the village of Tolleit D'Arcy in rural Essex uld be something of a htmare.

Vere it not for the bus run by al independent operator Os.ne's of Tollesbury to connect village with the London main 3 rail service at Witham, cars villagers would be left in not splendid isolation.

-oday over ten services a day :ween Tollesbury and Witham ;Lire that residents of TolleAnt D'Arcy can enjoy a full day _ondon without having to use ar.

)sborne's have been inthe s business since horses proled the motive power — an !which the present proprietor a Osborne remembers well.

n 1917 the first motorbus sere between Colchester and Ilesbury was operated using )del T-Fords.

roday, Osborne's operate 46 from a large garage purpose lit in 1965 which many public :tor operators would be proud rhe fleet includes 25 luxury aches and 11 double-deck ses.

Dsbornes work is varied. Five .;al stage-carriage routes, school contracts, private hire, excursions and tours and Continental work all contribute to the family business. And, like many independent operators, Osborne's undertake almost all their own maintenance work, including repaints and body repairs.

I asked Joe Osborne how he saw the future of his operation and not surprisingly, in view of the recession, he was somewhat pessimistic. As an operator who remembers the introduction of road-service licensing, he has fought many a traffic court licensing battle to build his business and extend the catchment area to make excursions and tours viable.

So he is not over-enthusiastic about the 1980 Transport Act. which opens the door wide to competition.

The nationwide decline of bus services has scarred Tollesbury where some market services and Sunday services have been dropped through lack of demand. Yet most of the network, including the main Witham and Colchester routes, survive with out the benefit of revenue support from the local council.

Before dropping the Sunday service, Osborne's did tell me that they explored the possibility of obtaining revenue support but were told by the county that as loadings were so low it was hardly worth operating on Sundays anyway.

Joe Osborne told roe he is particularly unhappy about the phasing out of new bus grants. Bus grants had given the fin the chance to update their flei with attractive modern vehicIE which could supplement stagi carriage earnings with more h crative work when time allowec

But Joe said that the firm he earned the respect of the loc community and they gave h service loyal backing. That col tributed to the survival of ti' stage-carriage routes and to th success of excursions and tour: A new luxury coach or a mod3m n bus on a local route is much -nore likely to persuade would)e customers to buy seats on .7.ontinental tours than would an )Ider vehicle.

Osbornes fleet is, in general, roung. There are a few coaches Ind buses over ten years old, )ut most are up-to-date luxury lehicles.

The company buys both new ind used vehicles as necessary, Ind many "opportunist" pur:hases have been made when iew vehicles were required, re:tilting in a variety of vehicle ypes and liveries — though the lame Osborne's is always gominently displayed.

Leyland Leopard, Bedford, Ind a Volvo coach are all in the )sborne fleet, so I asked Joe which he thought provided the best value for money. After reflection he plumped for the Leyland Leopard. It was the most cost-effective, he thought.

The 11-strong double-deck fleet consists entirely of rear-engined buses — Bristol VRTs, including the first prototype, Leyland Atlanteans and Daimler Fleetlines are among the vehicles operating on schools and works contracts and private hire.

The latest double-decker in the fleet is a smart three-year-old Alexander-bodied Bristol VRT which had once been part of the Dundee bus fleet of Tayside Re gional Council. The carrying capacity of this 83-seat vehicle make it ideal for short private hire and school contracts.

Increased competition has affected even the schools aspect of the operation with both national and municipal operators keen to use up spare capacity created by the decline of their own service networks.

Competition has made Joe reticent about the exact breakdown of the operation though I did learn that private hire still provides about 50 per cent of the business.

A small administrative staff at Tollesbury deals with traffic matters and handles publicity de signed not only to attract new customers, but keep the faithful informed of new activities. If a private-hire customer is lost from the fold, then the two girls in Osbornes office make a point of following this up to make sure that no fault lies with the company's coach service and attempt to win back the client.

Osborne's 1981 holiday programme includes centred eightday holidays in Newquay, Llandudno, Sandown and Edinburgh, as well as a wide programme of excursions at home and abroad. As the population of Tollesbury is relatively small, the catchment area now extends at least to the places served by Osborne's buses, including Colchester and Witham. Osborne's are as well-es lished as anyone in the rura dependent bus business yet • see a bleak future. Many for customers are now forsa public transport for the pri car and, like other psv operai Osborne's have to increase penditure yet strive to rer competitive in the face of competition.

Drivers' hours, Open licensing and tachographs among the areas of unavoid extra cost that will make even more difficult in the futi.

However, after using borne's local stage routes talking to the locals in To bury, I got the distinct imp sion that life in the village v out Osborne bus and coat was almost unthinkable and old-established operator sh( continue to flourish.

I did think, though, how cult if not impossible it woull for anyone without the I goodwill and establisl premises Osborne's have I up over the years to IT operating rural buses and scl contracts pay without first es lishing a more lucrative r coaching business.

At Tollesbury it appeared the coach and bus busine: were run as an integral unit s the coach business subsidi; the stage carriage operatic,'

The bus and coach can provide excellent value money to local communitie terms of fuel efficiency. With likelihood that when the re sion is over the working v will be reduced, leisure cc services, including private h should be able to play an creasingly important social n

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