Evan Evans lose Hoveriloyd battle
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by CM reporter ALLEGATIONS that coaches like "works buses in France" supplied by East Kent Road Car Co Ltd, on the special service between London and the Pegwell Bay Hoverport, had damaged the image of Hoverlloyd's London to Paris/ Brussels service, were not well founded.
This was the conclusion reached by the Metropolitan Traffic Commissioners, when, in a reserved decision, they refused an application by the Wallace Arnold company, Evan Evans Tours Ltd, to take over the operation of the service.
During the course of an eight-day hearing (CM October 24, November 14, 21 and January 23), Hoverlloyd claimed that a recent drop in traffic was directly attributable to the unattractive aspect of the East Kent service. They had approached Evan Evans to provide the service after a lastminute failure by East Kent to provide modern Plaxtonbodied vehicles for the 1975 season.
The Commissioners say the evidence shows that on several occasions East Kent had offered to replace the 1965 vintage Park Royal-bodied vehicles with more modern coaches, but Hoverlloyd had declined on grounds of cost.
Operational problems led East Kent to say they could not supply Plaxton-bodied vehicles for the 1975 season. These problems had since been overcome and Hoverlloyd had been notified that such vehicles were available for the 1976 season. From the beginning of January, until the end of August, 1975, there were 17 breakdowns on a total of 2,070 journeys, covering 164,000 miles and carrying 53,000 passengers. East Kent maintained that this was no better and no worse than coach operations generally. The figures produced, showing passengers carried in 1974 and 1975, did not show the marked fall-off in traffic, which it was claimed was a result of the poor standard of service provided by East Kent.
The service was regarded with some importance by East Kent. It gave them a yearround contract, the loss of which would adversely affect the essential interworking of coaches to and from the Kent coast, which-was necessary for economic operation.
The Commissioners concluded that there was a sufficiency of licences available to operators able and willing to operate services to the Hoverport, including those held by the objectors, East Kent, National Travel and Orange Luxury Coaches. They did not accept the degree of inadequacy, unsuitability and inefficiency, alleged against East Kent by Hoverlloyd, was such as to be a valid reason for making a change.
They were not convinced that Hoverlloyd's requirements could only be met by Evan Evans.