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BUS AND RAIL CO-ORDINATION IN AMERICA.

5th January 1926, Page 26
5th January 1926
Page 26
Page 27
Page 26, 5th January 1926 — BUS AND RAIL CO-ORDINATION IN AMERICA.
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Which of the following most accurately describes the problem?

A Prominent Railway Company Decides to Run a Large Fleet of Buses in the Hope of Retrieving Lost Traffic and Developing Their Activities.

IN this country many of the largest railway companies use passenger motor vehicles for linking up areas that may be remote from the railway system, a notable example being the Great Western Railway Co., who run a vast number of services in the West Country and in parts of Wales. In America very few instances are to be found where railway companies have adopted road vehicles for passenger traffic, mainly because the conditions of operation in the United States are somewhat different from those which exist here.

Railway engineers and others asso elated with transport in one form or another in America, however, are watching with great interest the experiment of the New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad Co., who have formed a subsidiary organization under the title of the New England Transportation Co. for the express purpose of conducting experiments with motorbuses. The officials of the railway company deemed it sufficient for one company to manage the railway, and for this reason a subsidiary organization was formed with a capital of $1,000,000.

The New York, New Haven and

Hartford Railroad Co. have had much to do With the .pioneering of petroldriveu vehicles, fot they were one of the first in America to use railcars of this type, the first machine haviug been iffltalEd in 1918. The company, thereare, entered the field of bus .transp&tation not wholly unacquainted with the problems of operating petrol-driven

In. the United States to-day there are more than 150 railway companies operating either motor rail coaches or

bces. The New York, New Haven and "-Hartford Railroad Co., however, are practically the first company of this

kill to make plans for the extensive operation of buses as substitutes for nbippaying train services, or as feeders for areas not touched by the railways.

The experiment is being viewed as an• economic proposition, and the results

may possibly determine the future action of other railway companies. Not only will it serve as a guide to other companies, but it is expected to throw much new light on the operation of buses in general.

Is it possible for a railway company which is financially strong and pos sesses a deep sense of responsibility of the requirements of the public to step in and compete against many tong established, independent bus concerns and 4 network of trolley lines? The answer to this question will, it is ex pected, determine whether the operation of buses in America will be controlled by a few of the large railway companies, or Whether many small independent concerns will continue to supply this public want.

The New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad Co. are faced with the problem of providing transporta tion for 68,000,000 people, the combined population of Massachusetts, Rhode Island and Connecticut. In Connecti cut there are 61 independent bus companies operating 800 buses on routes aggregating 1,010 miles of highway, whilst there are 969 miles of steam railroads. The New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad Co. are arranging four bus routes, 200 miles long, in Connecticut, and they have made applications for ten routes in Massachusetts and Rhode Island.

Although the company have a network of short branch lines serving many small communities beyond the working range of their trunk lines, they cannot furnish adequate train services to all districts at a profit commensurate with the vast amount of capital invested in rolling stock and other equipment.

In this country many of the railway companies have been faced with the fact that the public is, to a great extent, removing its support to motor buses and other types of passenger road vehicle, and in order to retain a fair share of patronage they have made en deavours to attract traffic by offering such inducements as extremely cheap fares, often at figures which are much below the level at which any motorbus company could expect to compete and operate road vehicles successfully. This is a phase of transportation which the New Yerk, New Haven and Hartford Railroad Co. are also facing, and they realize that the public is not particular who owns and runs the vehicles. It is felt that the best way to counteract this tendency is for rail and bus services to be co-ordinated.

Mr. A. P. Russell, vice-president of the New York, New Haven did Aartford Railroad Co., has stated that the buses of the coinpany. are to be run (1) as OA extension of, and in conjunction with, rail services, nialang auiecton s with impoitint trains; (2) parallel with, and as feeders to, rail services; (3) for filling of rail schedule intermissions where highway operation is justified, but where passengei traffic is too light or freight too heavy to justify the use of petrol railcars ; (4) for a highway service connecting with the rail services, so far as priteticable, between certain populous centres where the railways handle passenger traffic, but between which the construction of new or improved old highways has now created a situation in Which the use of the motor coach offers the only means of regaining former revepnes. These few observations are sufficient to indicate that the company intend to operate their bus and rail services in close harmony.

The decision of the New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad Co. to operate motorbuses was arrived at largely as the result of the increasing use of such vehicles and the improvement of highways. The passenger revenue on the company's railway system fell 24 per cent. during 1924 as compared withthe income during 1920; moreover, as compared with the number of passengers carried in 1923, the company actually lost 8,240,948 passengers in 1924. First of all, the company operate steam locomotives only, and then they employed petrOl railcars, of which 40 Were in use at one time, and now they hlive decided upon the use of phisenger road vehiCles en a large scale. At the outset they ordered 87 buses, of *hick 12 were Meeks, built by the 1rnational Motor Co., the remainder lieTng divided amongst several other makers. The Mack bi.ises are of the 20-seater type and embody several new features

in design. They are similar in construction to the buses in use on several routes in New England, and a picture of one of them is reproduced on the previous page.

One of the latest features of this type of bus. is the extension of the roof be-Yend the destination sign instead of behind it, thlib giving a better appearance, whilst a further improvereient is the use Of a stronger baggage rack. A further change in design has been made by the .reinoval of the short strip of moulding running down from the lower cosners of the Windshield to the lower belt line, thus improving the cowl and streamline effect.

The gear ratio of the Mack buses built for the company is 5.50 to 1 instead of the usual ratio of 6.67 to 1, thus affording greater speed. The buses are equipped with the Mack solidrubber shock insulators in the spring assemblies instead of the usual steel shackles, this feature enabling road shocks to be effectually damped out. The seating equipment is made up of dual-type chairs with spring seats and air cushions upholstered in leather.

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People: A. P. Russell
Locations: New York

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