WEST RIDING An Involved Situation
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Large Numbers of independent Stage Operators are a Feature of Passenger Transport in the West Riding, whilst, on the Other Hand, Various Arrangements Between Companies Have no Parallel Elsewhere in the Country
ROAD transport in the industrial, region of the West Riding has a completely different pattern from that in South Lancashire, which I have previously described.. To begin with, South Lancashire has at each end a city with a population of nearly a million—Liverpool, which has always looked seawards and has tended to turn its back on the surrounding country, and Manchester, which has acted like a magnet and has not hesitated to expand its services into the adjoining districts.
Nothing in the West Riding compares with the opposing positions of Liverpool and Manchester. Nor is there the same vast extent of contiguous built-up areas. For many years, therefore, South Lancashire has consisted, for local government purposes, entirely of boroughs and urban districts, whereas the rural district council is still to be reckoned with in the West Riding. The greater number of municipalities in South Lancashire led to the development of local tramway systems at an early date. These, as well as the South Lancashire Tramways Co. system, were constructed to standard gauge and so acted as a link because interrunning was practicable from the start.
In the West Riding, on the other hand, only a few undertakings were able to provide a continuous length of uniform track. Bradford, for instance, differed from Leeds, and Halifax from Huddersfield, and so on. The municipal systems, therefore, tended to remain isolated, serving their own municipalities well but not effectively linking one town to another.
When motorbuses became practical transport instru-ments, there was. every opportunity for the private operator to start inter-urban routes, so that to-day there is still a considerable number of independent stage Operators in the West Riding, despite many purchases.
In the whole of South Lancashire, however, and the adjoining part of Cheshire, from Liverpool Pierhead to Godley, and from Dunscar Bridge to Hazel Grove, I believe there is only one operator with one bus on what might be termed an ordinary public stage-carriage service. There are, of course, the municipalities and the three large companies—Lancashire United, Ribble and North-Western, as well.
It is not surprising, therefore, that, considering the mileage of stage routes, there should be much less pooling and joint working in the West Riding than in South Lancashire. On the other hand, there is a number of arrangemen4 which has no parallel in the county of the red rose—or, indeed, anywhere else.
Sheffield Corporation was early in the field with longdistance bus services, and by the time the railways secured their road powers in 1928, the corporation had considerable interests outside its own boundaries. The announcement • of an agreement with the L.M.S. and L.N.E. was a great surprise, and in municipal circles some people accused Sheffield of selling its birthright.
It must be remembered that there was then no Road Traffic Act in force and had the railways chosen to launch out on a big scale they would have certainly created great difficulties for other operators. Subsequent events have shown the wisdom of Sheffield's decision. This and similar agreements negotiated by the railways with the corporations of Todtnorden, Halifax and Huddersfield, have had a stabilizing influence on the industry in the West Riding, and at the same time have provided a means. for "dealing with the pi ObIem of population overspilling the municipal
boundaries. . The Sheffield agreement, which came into effect on January 1, 1929, provided for 'the division of all the corporation's bus routes into three categories. Services wholly within the city were put into category A, services up to about a 10-mile radius into category B, and those running farther, into category C. The L.M.S. and L.N:E. rai!ways jointly paid the •cOrporation £63,000, for Which they received a half interest in the B routes and the whole interest in the C routes; this sum was
• made up. of03,700 for half ownership o55 buses, and " complete ownership of 14, plus £29,300 for goodwill. Category A routes, together with the city tram set-. vices;have remained solely the concern of the corporation; B routes are under a joint committee equally representative' of both sides.; C 'routes are entirely controlled by the railways, but in practice they have always entrusted the management to the Manager of the city undertaking. All vehicles continue to be housed in
• corporation garages, the railways paying a rentalwhere appropriate. No major changes have been made since the agreement was signed, but the growth of the joint undertaking can be gauged from the present figures compared with those for 1929.
The 55 B buses have increased to 127, and the 14 C buses to 47. The A services now require 366 buses in addition to the
city's 467 trains. Some of the C routes are of considerable length, including, for example, that to Gainsborough (37 miles) and the two services tc) Manchester, one Of which is run jointly. with North Western (43 miles). Reference will be made later to interworking arrangements. with other operators between certain points on the railway-owned routes.
Todmorden never had a tram system, but was early ,off the mark with buses. The first service was started on January 1, 1907. Under its agreement with the L.M.S., which was operative from January 1, 1931, the corporation sold half its rolling stock (but not its buildings) to the railway company, and the services were taken over by a joint committee of eight members (four each from the corporation and the railway).
Equal Partners
Incidentally, three of the original corporation nominees have served continuously and are still serving, whilst the fourth remained a member until his death. Since the institution of the joint committee, all fresh capital has been provided in equal proportions by the two parties and profits have been shared on the same
basis. The joint services cover 50 route-miles and the partners own 42 buses, 37 being double-deckers.
Round Halifax an involved situation developed in the mid-'20s. The Holdsworth brothers, who later became so well known as long-distance hauliers, soon after the 1914-18 war, founded the passenger concern of Hebble Motor SerVices, Ltd., and in May, 1929, sold it to the L.M.S. and L.N.E.R. In the meantime Halifax Corporation prepared a scheme in conjunction with the corporations of Oldham, Rochdale, Keighley, Bradford and Leeds, for bus services linking Halifax with those towns.
The scheme encountered considerable opposition and a Ministry of Transport inquiry was held in April, 1927. El0 Before the inquiry agreement was reached with Yorkshire Woollen District Transport Co. regarding the proposed routes to Keighley and Leeds, and with the North Western Road Car Co., Ltd., regarding the HalifaxOldham route. Despite this, the Hebble concern and the railways persisted in their opposition and the scheme was abandoned. .
Modified Arrangement
The follovving year the Hebble undertaking succeeded in obtaining licences in Halifax and came to terms with the corporation regarding certain routes. When the railways received their road powers they negotiated an agreement with Halifax similar to that with Sheffield. The existing corporation services were divided into A, B and C categories, but the arrangement was slightly different from that at Sheffield in that an area was delineated as the boundary of the B routes, the area beyond which was regarded as the C area.. (At Sheffield the division of the B and C services is into routes and not areas.) This arrangement came into force on April 1, 1929, and in the following month the purchase of Hebble by the railways (subsequently shared with B.E.T.) enabled the C services to be transferred to that company, so that the manage: of the Halifax municipal undertaking has nothing to do with them and is responsible for only the A and B routes and fleets.
At present both Beets number 90 vehicles. The profits on the B routes, of course, are shared equally between the two parties, but as the B routes pick up and set down in A territory, 25 per cent. of the receipts are first transferred to the corporation before any profit ascertainment.
Similarly. Hebble, as inheritors of the C services, pay . over 25 per cent. of their takings in the corporation and joint areas in respect of passengers, both picked up and set down in those areas. Their "Autornatickets " have a special section for writing in the fare in what they call "the red area."
Although the Halifax trams ran to the Bradford boundary at Shelf, the joint committee does not do so, the section between Northowram and Shelf haying been handed over to Hebble. The latter, with 83 buses and coaches, including 22 double-deckers, is in a curious geographical position. Much of its mileage is within the area of the Halifax Joint Committee, so that within that territory the B,T.C. has a finger in two pies. It has been mentioned that both the A and Bi1ee t Halifax at present number 90, but it is not possible' to keep the working of the two Beets completely separate and consequently periodical
adjustments of mileage are necessary. Balancing is actually done by using the •Queensbury route for working off any excess.
At Huddersfield we have still another variation on the corporation-railway theme. In this case the corporation, in 1929, sold a half-share in all its bus services, but kept exclusive ownership of the trams. All trams have since been withdrawn; in most cases they have been replaced by trolleybuses, but where, as on the Honley route, the service is now worked by motorbuses, the latter come under the Joint Committee.
The municipal manager and administrative staff also act for the railway, but the division of the assets is so exact that odd fleet numbers are reserved for railway buses and even numbers for corporation vehicles. It cannot be said in this case that the joint services are the outer ones, as some of the trolleybus routes (those to Marsden, West Vale and Brighouse, for example), are longer than the majority of the bus routes. There is another complication which will be referred to later.
In a number of cases a former municipal tramway system has been supplanted by company-owned buses with the municipality enjoying some share of the profits. The arrangements between the West Yorkshire Road Car Co., and the corporations of Keighley and York, however, have distinctive features.
The legal set-up. of the Keighley arrangement is a strange one. The routes formerly run by Keighley Corporation plus certain West Yorkshire routes (shown on the map on page 355) were handed over to the control of a new company, Keighley-West Yorkshire Services, Ltd. This was registered on September 2, 1932; with a nominal capital of £1,000, of which £7 was paid up.
Profit Sharing
The corporation had no power to buy shares in the company, but under its agreement with the West Yorkshire concern is guaranteed half the profits after allowances for depreciation and management. The company has a board of seven directors, three of whom are nominated by Keighley Corporation and four by the West Yorkshire company. Management is reserved to the West Yorkshire" and a portion of the receipts earned on the company's services which run through the Keighley-West Yorkshire area, is paid to KeighleyWest Yorkshire Services, Ltd. Any additional capital required may be provided equally by the two partners. Keighley-West Yorkshire Services, Ltd., at present owns 54 buses, of which 17 are single-deckers.
The situation at York (which is really outside the area coVered by this article) is worth mentioning as being rather differentWhen in 1934 the City Council agreed to transfer its undertaking to the management of the West Yorkshire Road Car Co, Ltd., no new company was formed, but a joint policy committee was estab lished. `` West Yorks" paid £40,000 to equate the Corporation's assets, and this money was used to buy new buses to replace the trams. It will be seen from the map that under the agreement, effective from January 6, 1935, the area covered is much wider than the city boundaries. The Joint Committee owns 66 vehicles, of which 10 are. single-deckers.
Company-corporation arrangements of quite a different type are to be found in the territory of the Yorkshire Woollen District Transport Co., Ltd. The present passenger services in the district derive. from agreements made in 1909 by the councils of Dewsbury and Ossett whereby the municipalities leased their trams to the National Electric Construction Co., Ltd.
Other lines in the district, notably in Batley and Spenborough, were leased by their councils to the British Electric Traction Co., Ltd., which also had powers to build lines of its own. The Dewsbury-Birkenshaw line, incidentally, was an old one, dating back to 1873.
In 1902, B.E.T. passed the management of its trams to the Yorkshire Woollen District Co., Ltd. Abandonment of all lines was carried out under the provisions of the Yorkshire (Woollen District) Transport Act, 1931, and the Dewsbury and Ossett Passenger Transport Act, 1933., since when all the services have been provided by buses of the Woollen District company.
The National Electric Construction Co., Ltd., still has a financial interest in the Dewsbury-Ossett area, although it is not an operator. The Acts, which provide for a close liaison between the operating company and the local authorities, give the latter the right to see the accounts in respect of scheduled services and make it impossible to alter the local arrangements without their consent.
Long-term Protection
Protection must be given by other services passing through the area. Dewsbury and Ossett received from the company sums sufficient to extinguish their loan debt, and in respect of the N.E.C. lines Dewsbury became entitled to a payment of £240 per annum until December 31, 1955, and Ossett to a Payment of £160 per annum for the same period. After 1955 they will be entitled to a share in the profits.
For the routes representing the original Woollen District (as distinct from N.E.C.) services, Dewsbury and Batley Corporations will receive three-fifths of the profits earned in their respective boroughs until 1953, after which they will obtain eleven-twentieths until 1973, and thereafter one-half. The profits are arrived at by adding depreciation at 30. per mile to the working costs. The local authorities have power to purchase the portions of the undertakings in their territory at December 31, 1955, or at each succeeding 25 years.
An interesting point will arise if the Minister of Transport ever, makes an order establishing an area scheme for the West Riding. It will hardly be possible for an order to take away powers conferred by Statute, sti that it looks as if Dewsbury, Ossett and Batley would continue to participate in the bus profits.
They would thus be in a more fortunate position than those councils which, having run their own transport, will, on the introduction of an area scheme, cease to derive any financial benefit from the undertaking.
This is a matter of some importance to local ratepayers, as will be realized when it is mentioned that from 1933 to 1945 Dewsbury Corporation received from the company £111,464, of which only £11,752 was needed for loan charges and redemption.
Buses Instead of Trams
Another former tram system comes into the picture further east in the Riding. After the 1914-18 war, the urban districts of Dearne, Wombwell and Wath (all to. the north of Rotherham) constructed a joint tram system called the Deame District Light Railway. The tramway, however, was soon killed by bus competition.
On its abandonment, the owning authorities entered into an agreement with the Yorkshire Traction Co., Ltd. (effective from October 1, 1933), whereby the company operates bus services in lieu of the trains. After the company has taken operating costs of 10.125d. per mile, the balance is divided equally between the company and the councils.
Yorkshire Traction has by no means a monopoly between Barnsley and the Dearne district. There are several services worked by two other operators and these contribute nothing to the local councils. There is interavailability of return tickets with Yorkshire Traction and in one case a cash settlement is made.