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MB routes warning
Page 38
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• No action has been taken against Blackburn-based M&E Coaches for allegedly failing to operate registered services. At a Manchester public inquiry last week, North Western Traffic Commissioner Martin Albu was told by Lancashire County Council and Hyndburn Borough Council that some routes had not been operated as registered; some had not been operated at all, and some had been run off-route. They also alleged that unregistered journeys had been operated.
For the firm, John Backhouse said the complaints about the Accrington/Blackburn service were unfounded in that it was registered as a highfrequency service with no
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scheduled timetable.
John Battrick, a partner in M&E Coaches, said five vehicles operated over the circular route with a running time of around 50 minutes, giving approximately a 10-minute frequency.
The Green Lane service had been taken over from Accrington Coachways, which had negotiated the route. After running for three days it had become clear that it was unsafe to operate the service as registered, so it was agreed with the county council that the service should be linked to the Blackburn service and an application was immediately made to alter the registration.
Backhouse argued that the firm had a reasonable excuse for not complying with the Green Lane timetable as reg istered, because it had proved to he unsafe to do so. No member of the public had been inconvenienced.
Taking no action, other than to record a warning, Alhu said he accepted that there was insufficient evidence to support the allegations concerning the Accrington/Blackburn service. There had been irregularities in the operation of the Green Lane service which might or might not have been justified on safety grounds.
But he was not impressed by the firm's control over its operations, and tighter management control was necessary to ensure that drivers stuck to the timetables. Urgent attention also needed to be paid to ensuring that vehicles were displaying the correct destination indicators,