Operating Aspects of
Page 79
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
Passenger Transport
BUSES TO REPLACE MIDLANDS TRAMS?
MEGOT1ATIONS are taking place 1 Nbetwe,ert Smethwick Town Council and. the Birmingham and District Investment Trusts. Ltd., and Birmingham and Midland Motor Omnibus Co., Ltd., regarding the future of the tramways in the Black Country.
Under an agreement which expires on December 31, 1938, the corporation is empowered to buy the assets of the local tramways undertaking The municipal general services committee has already decided, in principle, in favour of this course and is acting in co-operation with the authorities of Oldbury, Rowley Regis and Tipton.
The four municipal authorities, which have engaged Mr. C. Owen Silvers, Wolverhampton Corporation's transport manager, as adviser, are considering a suggestion made by the "Midland Red" for the substitution of buses for trams. Consultations with Birmingham Corporation's transport manager have also been held.
15 PASSENGERS IN A WEEK!
SIDELIGHTS on bus operation in Littondale, a rural district in West Yorkshire, were forthcoming at a sitting of the Yorkshire 'traffic Commissioners, last week, when a protest was made against the withdrawal of the Skipton-Litton daily service of the West Yorkshire Road C,ar Co., Ltd.
Mr. J. C. Dean, general manager, said that when a daily service was run it was not used. 'A census taken during a typical week showed that, excluding Saturday, only 15 passengers were carried. In four days other than market days, only 10 people were carried on 16 bus journeys. On many occasions, buses had no passengers at all, and the maximum on any bus was four.
Mr. N. N. Lee, for Slettle Rural District Council, said that a former regular service in Littondale was acquired by the West Yorkshire company, which ran, for a time, an extraordinarily expensive service in place of it. He suggested that the loss which the company must have sustained was contributed to by running large buses. The residents would be satisfied with a small bus.
Decision was reserved.
FIGURES TALLY AT LAST!
I N transferring the excursions and tours licences of Mr. Richard Fairclough, for Wigan and Hindley, to Carlton Coaches, Ltd.. Carlton Depositories, Greenough, Wigan, Mr. W. Chamberlain, chairman of the North Western Traffic 'Commissioners, mentioned that this was the first instance in his experiencd where the figures sent in compared exactly -with those forwarded to the Ministry of Transport.
Evidence had been heard that the change did not affect control.
VENTILATIONTHROUGH STRAP ADEVICE to overcome ventilation problems in buses has been arranged by Mr. T. P. Easton, transport manager to Newcastle-on-Tyne City Council.
As an experiment, Mr. Easton has replaced the ordinary wood straphanger rod, in a dozen buses, by a perforated metal tube, which is connected to a funnel at the front of the vehicle. The tube is sealed at the rear end. The device 'has proved most effective.
GIANT STATION FOR BLACKPOOL.
WWITH the close of the autumn season, Blackpool Corporation has put in hand work on covering-in the central coach and bus station at Talbot Road and erecting above it a huge public garage, accommodating 1,000 cars. The station in its new form will be completed by next holiday season, although the scheme as a whole will take 18 months to finish. D US drivers, conductors and con
ductresses in the Buchan (Aberdeenshire) area have been granted wage increases. This intimation was made at a sitting of the Northern Scotland Traffic Commissioners, at Aberdeen, last week.
Objection had been lodged by the Transport and General Workers Union to the renewal of licences by seven Buchan operators, on the ground that wages and conditions were under the standard for the district.
It was reported, however, that all the operators had 'beenrepresented at a meeting with the conciliation officer. An agreement had been reached with the union for an increase of ld. per hour for male workers and d. per hour for female employees. Conditions will be similar to those operated by the Scottish Motor Traction`Co., Ltd., but such matters as overtime and spreadover allowances will be the subject of negotiations between the companies and the union,
Mr. Henry Riches, chairman, expressed gratification at the result of the representations made by the union. Subject to the outstanding matters being dealt with by agreement with the union, all the licences will be renewed as they come up, TRAMS FOR MANY MORE YEARS?
" 'TRAMS will still he seen in our
1 largest cities at the end of the lifetime of many of us," Mr. Benjamin England, Leicester Corporation's transport manager, told Leicester members of the Industrial Transport Association. Mr. England's address on the future of transport concluded with a plea for road bridges or tunnels to link the banks of the Humber, the Severn, the Thames between Essex and Kent, and Solway Firth.
He anticipated, as the area between town and town became urbanized, the application of traffic boards on the London model.