Eatonways proposals not sound, say Commissioners
Page 26
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
Luxury commuter services into Birmingham refused 'Ta written decision, the West Midland raffic Commissioners have refused Eatonways Luxury Travel's bid to operate a non-stop commuter express service between Wolverhampton and Birmingham (COMMERCIAL MOTOR, last week).
Eatonways sought to provide 20 journeys in each direction, Monday to Friday, at a 45to 60-minute frequency, with six journeys from Birmingham and seven from Wolverhampton on Saturdays and Sundays.
The Commissioners did not believe that a need for the service had been established or that the public interest required its provision. Had a service of the kind proposed been necessary, the Commissioners would have invited Midland Red, as the existing operator, to offer the improved facilities before superimposing another operator's service on the route. Apart from the wellestablished existing operator principle, it was clear that there was no difference between abstraction and deprivation of newly created traffic.
The decision goes on that it could be in the public interest to experiment with new ideas and facilities in transport, but it could be equally dangerous to do so. In the past the Commissioners had encouraged and supported many experimental projects and they would continue to do so provided the experiments had a sound basis.
Eatonways did not satisfy either of these criteria. There was nothing new in an end-to-end, non-stop facility and its proposed application in the present instance sprang from pious hopes and wishful thinking rather than a realistic look at the hard facts of the world of transport. If the service proposed was to be so attractive as to encourage the motorist to forsake his car for public transport, it should be equally or more attractive to the user of existing public transport facilities, otherwise the new facility would be unnecessary. Neither Eatonways nor the Commissioners had any means of ensuring the proposed service would be limited to this new class of passenger.
The Commissioners were satisfied that the Railways already had adequate and suitable facilities for end-to-end traffic between Birmingham and Wolverhampton. The proposed service would be more attractive than the existing Midland Red stage service, particularly in the light of the comparable journey times. Thus it could be assumed that the Midland Red would lose a substantial part if not the majority of their existing end-to-end traffic.
Refusing a similar application by Eatonways for a Redditch-Birmingham commuter service, the Traffic Commissioners said: "If the brew prepared by Eatonways for the delectation of the Commissioners was much as before, so too were the ingredients added by the objectors, with the qualification that Midland Red were a more potent factor than the Railway on this occasion."
The Commissioners noted that Midland Red themselves had applied for a limitedstop service from Redditch, which had not yet been heard but which showed the company's awareness of the needs.
The Commissioners concluded: "Despite the untiring efforts of counsel for Eatonways to render the resultant concoction more palatable, the Commissioners . . . find it unacceptable."