"Impossible Condition" Rejected
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APROPOSAL by British Railways that new seven-day fantail tours granted to Feather Bros. (Tours), Ltd., should be restricted to old age pensioners was rejected by the Yorkshire Traffic Commissioners last week. Maj. F. S. Eastwood, chairman; pointed out that it would be impossible to attach such a condition to the licences because of the administrative difficulty.
Feather Bros. wanted to add the tours to their Bradford excursion licence, linking with the major West Riding towns. They were opposed by the railways, together with Happiway Tours (Manchester), Ltd.; Western S.M.T. Co., Ltd.; Scottish Omnibuses, Ltd.; and the Yorkshire Pool operators.
Opening Feather Bros.' case, Mr. F. Marshall said the new tours — to Rothesay, Tenby, Southsea, Cliftonville and Folkestone—would be mainly for the benefit of elderly people. He was told by Maj. Eastwood, however, that as the tours would really be open to anyone the case would have to be conducted on a general basis.
Off-season Tours
In evidence, Mr. J. Malcolm Barr, assistant managing director of Wallace Arnold Tours, Ltd., said that Feather Bros., their sister company, started outof-season tours in 1955, operating at cheap rates between Easter and Whitsuntide, and during September. The demand had increased to such an extent that this year 6,708 passengers had booked with them, compared with 4,671 last year.
Only one other operator in Yorkshire offered similar facilities—Heats Tours. Ltd.—and they had not objected. There was no direct rail service to any of the destinations, nor was there a direct road service by any of the objecting operators alone. Wallace Arnold did not accept the principle of linked services, bearing in mind the Minister of Transport's ruling that an operator could object only with reference to services run by him.
For Happiway, Mr. J. A. Backhouse said they ran earlyand late-season tours, but they could not compete with Feather Bros.' prices of from £7 7s. to £10 10s. because in the North Western Area the Traffic Commissioners fixed a minimum fare.
Contenting Objectors
After an adjournment, Mr. W. Hargrave, for the Yorkshire Pool, submitted that the tours envisaged would really be direct express services against which their London routes had previously been protected. The road objectors would be content, however, if the condition restricting operations to 15 vehicles on any one day on London excursions were made to apply to Rothesay, Southsea, Cliftonville and Folkestone. Feather Bros. had agreed to this.
After hearing three of the 20 witnesses, Mr. T. B. Atkinson, for British Railways, said it appeared that they were all going to he elderly people, so he could not usefully pursue the objection. The railways were worried about the number of younger people who would take advantage of cheap fares.
Granting the amended application, Maj. Eastwood said that from the evidence it appeared that the majority of passengers would be elderly people, and the danger of other people travelling was outweighed by the benefits of a grant to Feather Bros.