HARTLEPOOL'S PASSENGER TRANSPORT PROBLEMS.
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An Interesting Situation Which Has Arisen as a Result o1 the Opposite Views Held by the Two Municipal Authorities Concerned.
PARTICULARLY interesting pas11..senger transport situation has arisen at the Hartlepools, where \ there is every likelihood of a struggle between the neighbouring bodies, the West Hartlepool Corporation and the Hartlepool Corporation, for control of the .road services between these two sister boroughs. The through route is at present served by tramcars, but the tracks are in such a badly worn condition as to necessitate either renewel, or the substitution of some alternative form of 1passenger locomotion, and, as the pasii Von stands at present, there are directly opposed opinions held by the two mum*pal bodies as to the future means of 'serving the route. On the one hand the Hartlepool Corporation announces its intention of seeking powers to operate motorbuses,. both within and outside the t horough and, on the other hand, the adjoining authority has already set in motion the necessary machinery for the provision of an order sanctioning the operation of -trolley-buses over the through route and other routes in the West Hartlepool area.
What might be described as the " preliminary canter" in this conflict of views was an informal inquiry held at West Hartlepool on November 18th by Mr. H. Fisher, an inspector of the Ministry of Transport, into an application by the Hartlepool Motor Services against the refusal of the West Hartlepool body to grant them licences for three motorbuses, with which they proposed to institute a direct service between the two towns, along the same route as that followed by the tramcar.
In opening the case for the appellants, Mr. Percy Smallman, who is the town clerk for Hartlepool, made it clear that the Hartlepool Corporation was in no way connected with the appeal. After alluding to the recent action of the. West Hartlepool body in seeking a provisional order to operate trolleybuses, and that of the Hartlepool Corporation in seeking powers for establishing motorbus services, Mr. Smallmaa said the company were seeking to provide, better, quicker and, he trusted, cheaper tfacilities for the people of Hartlepool. He expressed it as his belief that the 'West Hartlepool Corporation had not considered the application for licences on its merits, and al:legal that its obvious intention was to maintain the monopoly on the HartleTool and every other route at present 'served by the West Hartlepool tramway system. In drawing attention to what • lie regarded as the inadequacy of existing
;facilities, he urged that the effort of the West Hartlepool authority to secure ipowers for operating. trolley-buses was proof that it regarded the present system as falling short of actual requirements.
= In putting forward a strong plea Ica the quashing of the refusal, Mr. Small;man pointed out that the company intended to open up other motorbus routes, but this course could not be adopted except in conjunction with the through Bernice, as the subsidiary routes would not pay if worked by themselves.
For the other side, the chairman oF the West Hartlepool Tramways Committee, Mr. H. Salmon, after mentioning that the track between the two towns had been laid for 28 years, said it was difficult to make any arrangements prior to August next, when the lease of the tramways, from the Imperial Tramways Co., expired. In considering the best means of serving the travelling public, upon the termination of that lease, his authority was induced to favour railless cars, in view of the results obtained by these vehicles on the Foggy Furze route, since their installation in February last. They had proved -themselves lower in operating and other costs than the tram. cars. In addition, the renewal of the tram tracks would entail tremendous expenditure.
Continuing, Mr. Salmon stated that his corporation was under an obligation to provide facilities which the motor company would not, and, further, it was under an obligation to put the track at• Hartlepool into a condition similar to that wtten it was taken over, a task which, he estimated, would necessitate the expenditure of £7,000. So far as the remainder of the system—that in
West Hartlepool—was concerned, the figure for reinstatement would, he adcied. bain the vicinity of £14,000, or making, in all, £21,000 to be met.
Finally, he said his corporation was promoting a Bill for running trolleybuses in West Hartlepool itself, and over this route so soon as possible, and that but for the opposition of the Hartlepool authority it would have had the Hartlepool route specified in the Bill. Mr. Fisher thought that, in the near future, the Ministry of Transport would be called upon to decide whether the West Hartlepoolshould operate railless cars over he route, whether the Hartlepool Corporation should run motorbuses, or whether both should have running powers. He further observed that, in view of the fact that this was a company applying, and that the Hartlepool Corporation would itself be making application to the Ministry later, it might be that the Ministry would find it impossible to dissociate the application of the company from the intentions of the municipal body. He expressed doubt as to whether a decision would be promulgated for some time to come.
In the Parliamentary Bill which the Hartlepool Corporation proposes to ;ubmit to the 1925 Session application is made for power to operate omnibuses within and without the borough, and particular mention is made of the route to West Hartlepool—along Clarence Road —which is the existing tramway route of the West Hartlepool Corporation.