S.U.T. Alarmed by "Street Parties"
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WHEN Sheffield United Tours, Ltd., opposed Sansom Bros. (Sheffield), Ltd., before the Yorkshire Traffic Cornmissioners last week, Mr. Ben Goodfellow, S.U.T. general manager, said that he had been alarmed to learn the details of how the applicants had undertaken the carriage of "street parties."
S.U.T. and four other operators objected to Sansom's request to add certain coastal resorts to their excursions licence (The Commercial Motor, February 21 and March 14).
Receipts for excursion traffic by S.U.T. amounted to £39,000 in 1956 and 05,900 in 1957. Bookings for Easter excursions had dropped by two-thirds. The application was bound to upset the company, said Mr. Goodfellow, as they were not holding the traffic at the same times as costs continued to rise.
He told Mr. J. Evans, for the applicants, that facilities were adequate to deal with all demands for journeys to the coast. A representative of Sheffield Transport Department said that if the application were granted they would lose passengers at present travelling by municipal buses to link up with existing operators' excursion services. Any abstraction of traffic from municipal services would be serious.
Mr. T. B. Atkinson, for the railways, said that Sansorn were like mice nibbling at the fat cheese in Sheffield held by existing operators. The Commissioners would have to stop granting applications by suburban operators.
"If you are not going to stop licensing operators for all these districts of Sheffield, my clients the S.U.T. will have to pack up in the city centre," submitted Mr. W. R. Hargrave, for S.U.T.
Mr. Evans contended that it was commonsense that his clients should be entitled to extend the choice of destinations on their licence. The objectors were at cross-purposes with themselves.
Decision was reserved.