PHASES OF PASSENGER TRAVEL
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RAPID GROWTH OF AN EAST ANGLIAN CONCERN.
How a Fleet of More than 30 Coaches Has Been Built Up in 2i Years.
Ti:M particular features of some 'long-distance coaches delivered this l , season to Harrison and Ives, Ltd., Surrey Street, Norwich, which is the proprietary concern of Eastern Motorways, draw attention to the progress which this company has made in the short period of 2i years.
Photographs are reproduced on this page of a Daimler 0F6-type 25-seater coach, supplied to this concern, having • bodywork by Herbert E. Taylor and Co., Ltd., of Norwich, and show the special seating arrangement that has been adopted, with pairs of seats on the off side and single seats on the near side of the gangway. Two doors are located on the near side, the forward one being behind a foremost bank of four seats. A system of heating this interior by means of the exhaust gases has been incorporated.
Harrison and Ives, Ltd., was amongst the pioneers of long-distance coach services in the counties of East Anglia, and the directors attribute their suecess to two things; the use of nothing but the. finest rolling stock and unfailinr, alertness in attending to the
needs of public.
The original Norwich-London service was started in April, 1928, and it now comprises four departures daily in each direction. Three of the coaches take the famous route of olden times, across Newmarket Heath and into London via Bishop's Stortforcl, whilst the fourth travels by way of Ipswich, Colchester and Chelnasford. The principal London booking agent is the Thomas Transport Co., Ltd., of Villiers Street, Charing Cross, the vehicles being garaged at the London Te'rrainal -Coach Station in Clapham Road. A new daily service started this year was that between Norwich and Birmingham, by way of Cambridge, Northampton and Coventry. The daily service to Leicester, via King's Lynn, Wisbech, Peterborough and Stamford is now in its second ,year of operation. The services do not terminate at Norwich, but extend to the principal Norfolk seaside resorts, particularly Yarmouth, Cromer and Sheringham, and this accounts for their popularity.
The increase in the company's fleet this year is partly due to the decision to commence important local services, and these have proved a great success in opening up the country around Norwich and the north-east coastline of Norfolk, the principal service being that through the market town of North Waltham to Cromer and Sheringham, with branches to the holiday resorts of Mundesley, Bacton and Walcott-on-Sea. The route to Aylsham is also important as it links several villages previously unserved by motorbuses.
The fleet of over 30 vehicles is finished in a standard colour scheme of two shades of blue, and comprises a considerable number of Daimler chassis with bodywork by Herbert E. Taylor and Co., Ltd. There are also A.E.C. Regal and Reliance vehicles, with coachwork by United Automobile Services, Ltd., of Lowestoft, four Bristol buses and one Gilford forward-control 28seater. A separate batch of 20-seater six-cylinder coaches of the all-weather type is maintained for private-hire work.
The company's maintenance arrangements have developed with its services, so that all overhaul work is now carried out in repair shops at the head depot, the work being carefully organized. Systems that are familiar in
large-scale operation are standardized, drivers signing to the effect that vehicles are in order before they set out in the morning and being responsible for the proper completion of daily report sheets. Vehicles coming in from duty are re-fueled-, washed down and cleaned out inside, the maintenance department working regularly in day and night shifts.
Nowadays it seems to be only by such methods that concerns catering for passenger travel are able to hold their positions.