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Nine-tours grant for Wallace Arnold

2nd December 1966
Page 64
Page 64, 2nd December 1966 — Nine-tours grant for Wallace Arnold
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Keywords : Cowdenbeath, Fife

COMMISSIONERS REJECT "HORSE-TRADING" DEAL

AFTER a three-day sitting of the Scottish Traffic Commissioners in Dundee which concluded on Wednesday, Wallace Arnold Tours Ltd., Leeds, were granted a licence to run nine new tours from Dundee to Engiish and Welsh resorts. They were also granted authority to pick up and set down passengers on all tours, British and Continental, at Cowdenbeath (Me) which is on the route of tours from Dundee.

Originally the applications were opposed by British Railways, the Northern, Midland and Fife companies of W. Alexander and Sons Ltd., Western SMT Ltd., and Scottish Omnibuses Ltd. Ultimately the objections were confined to the Fife picking-up point.

At the end of the hearing Mr. L. A. Wells, deputy chairman of the Traffic Commissioners, strongly criticized an attempted deal between the parties on this remaining issue during the hearing.

On the first day Mr. Geoffrey Steel, traffic manager of Wallace Arnold, stressed the great inconvenience suffered by over 400 customers in the Cowdenbeath area who had to travel to Edinburgh or Perth to join their tours.

The next day Mr. Walter Fletcher, solicitor for the objectors, said that if Wallace Arnold were prepared to withdraw the Cowdenbeath picking-up point they would no longer continue objections.

When Mr. Steel agreed on that understanding, Mr. Wells said he was not going to be a party to "this horse trading". The Commissioners refused Wallace Arnold permission to withdraw that part of their application.

Announcing the Commissioners' decision, Mr. Wells said they had been put in an almost impossible position in view of the bartering which had gone on.

In addition to having a quasi judicial function the Commissioners had to regard the interests of the public. It was for this reason that they had decided it would be quite intolerable for them to allow an application to be withdrawn in a "horse trading" deal, where no regard at all was had to the interests of the people of Cowdenbeath.

Mr. Wells said the objectors were concerned that the picking-up point would lead to some abstraction of traffic from the services which they provided in the area to Edinburgh.

They were also concerned about the possible abstraction of traffic from their own inclusive tours from Edinburgh.

He pointed out that the objectors did not run any out-of-season tours of a nature and price range similar to those operated by Wallace Arnold.

The Commissioners were always concerned to see that they did nothing which detracted from the viability of stage carriage services. On the other hand, they had to make a balance between diminution of receipts on the stage carriage services and proved inconvenience to people making journeys, perhaps by rail and two buses to Edinburgh.


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