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MMERCIAL MOTOR'S Coach r 83 is proof that the coaching ustry is in good shape and dy for the future. For those ders who were unable to md the fair, and I was one of m, I found the October 1 issue extremely interesting.
A bit of a veteran in heavy haulage and in earlier days, involved in coaching. I have in recent years taken quite a number of coaching holidays in various parts of Great Britain.
That there could be some slight problems occasionally is to be expected, but a trip to Scotland without the use of a working microphone for the driver was unfortunate. A week's visit to the Lake district in July, was not exactly the pleasure it might have been with some sector of the heating apparatus working at feet. Questioned regarding this, the driver said nothing could be done, and although these faults were often known, the maintenance staff invariably looked after the important mechanics of the vehicles.
This is not meant as a moan, but rather a reminder to those responsible that the general public are very coach-minded, but it is still up to operators to strive always to provide the best.
I do feel, however, that in some ways certain routes and operators will need to look seriously at the future.
The sheer volume of feeder services, and originating tours from, say Victoria Coach Station, is not a particularly pleasant experience, especially in the high season.
I do not profess to have a panacea for this or any other busy centre struggling to offer a good service against overwhelming physical odds, but Ida believe that coach operators must be mindful of their feelings and strive somehow to remedy matters.
Sir Kenneth Newman recently criticised the Government's policy of liberalising coach service, Recent growth in commuter and inter-city coach services is causing trouble for the London police. "The recent relaxation in the legislation relating to coach operation has created many difficulties for police. Operators are able to choose terminals, routes and picking-up points without police having any opportunity to make representations," he said a few weeks ago.
The main black spots are Victoria Coach Station and Kings Cross. At Victoria the space available is inadequate to deal with arrivals and departures, while off-street facilities have to be used at peak holiday times. Despite meetings to thrash out the problems, no solution has been found as there is no space available for expansion of the coach station.
Sir Kenneth pointed out that non-licensed operators of longdistance services were using the streets around the station, adding to the congestion, and some 269 coaches including some British ones had been removed during 1982 for parking offences.
The police are having to hold the ring between licensed and non-licensed operators at Kings Cross where complaints of obstruction have been made against their rivals, although the police tried to enforce the law on all sides.
Coaching goes from strength to strength, but there are matters to be cleared, and not a lot was said about some of them at the Coach fair.
NIGEL BREEZE Southend-on-Sea