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WA looks for express service earnings boost

5th July 1974, Page 27
5th July 1974
Page 27
Page 27, 5th July 1974 — WA looks for express service earnings boost
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A PROFIT off.336,314 was made by the holidays division of Barr and Wallace Arnold Trust Ltd compared with £51,104 in 1972. (The company as a whole made a pretax profit of £705,552 compared with £785,130.) In the annual report published last week the company's chairman, Mr Malcolm Barr, explained that British coach tours, general passenger services and travel agencies all contributed record results and the disappointing performance was caused by Continental operations. It had been decided to limit operations on the Continent in 1975 to the "bare minimum consistent with keeping a foothold in the market" but because of long-term planning it was likely that losses would continue this year.

Mr Barr went on: "For the foreseeable future it is our intention to concentrate strongly on the development of British coach tours and general coach passenger services." He revealed that the company had applied to operate regular scheduled services from the U K to Rome, Barcelona, Marseilles, Munich, Basle and Milan.

He said that a tendency to take a more liberal view by Traffic Commissioners when granting new coach licences could lead to more competition for WA on some routes but "also gives us greater opportunities to develop". He hoped that liberalization of licensing would also apply to express services. The operators licensed on most routes, particularly those between London and the major cities, had scarcely altered for 40 years.

"Some competition on these routes would assist the public, would create opportunities for innovations, lower fares and a general widening of the benefits of low cost and comfortable travel," he said.

Mr Barr said that the PTEs had dealt with the integration of public transport in the cities but the system "leaves unanswered many other transport problems especially those concerned with ensuring a fair and proper relationship between the private and publicly owned sectors of the industry".

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