Bid For 14 Express and Tours Licences Fails
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It was contended that Southdown had acquired an unfair advantage because irregular operation by various operators in 1951, '52 and '53 had led directly to Mr. Williams' loss of the Triumph Licences. The South Eastern Traffic Commissioners then refused an adjournment until Williams' own application could be lodged and heard; the Southdown application was granted and upheld by the Minister on appeal.
Not Abandoned Claim
Although the benefit had passed to Southdown. Mr. Williams had not abandoned his claim, as an operator of unremunerative services in the Midhurst area, to a share in these licences, and his application was left adjourned pending the Southdown renewals in November, 1961, and March, 1962, when they would again be pressed.
The present inquiry had been initiated by the Traffic Commissioners but it would save a vast amount of office work if the applications were allowed to lie until the renewal. Mr. G. Duckworth, traffic manager, Southdown Motor Services, submitted it would be most improper to allow an application to stand on file for two years and then grant further adjournment. Williams was seeking to bolster his own application on Southdown's proof of need at the renewal. Refusing the application, Mr. Thom said there was no evidence of need or suggestion that there would be: Williams' argument to justify a share in the traffic had been rejected previously and nothing had been added to justify a further adjournment.
PROFIT CUT
L'ASTBOURNE transport department .1—■ report a surplus for the year ended March 31, 1961, of L1,301, compared with a surplus of £3,170 for the previous year, Total mileage covered by the fleet was 1,509,511, and the number of passengers carried was 16,815,838.
SIMPLE ECONOMICS "
IT was shown to us today that in the first five years of bus operation, we shall save enough money to pay for the new vehicles needed to operate the service." This was said by ClIr. H. S. A. Ward, after a private meeting of Blackpool Town Council recently decided to take trams off one route next year.
£264,050 Bus Order
THE 50 new Leyland double-deck buses ordered by Edinburgh transport department are to cost the undertaking £264,050—the chassis £2,820 each and the bodies £2,461 each. They will have heating and fluorescent lighting, Mr. W. M. Little, the transport manager, says the introduction of heating and fluorescent lighting will add about £150 to the cost of each bus.
This latest order is the first phase of the replacement of between 150 and 200 buses which will take place in the next few years.