New Light on Railway Road Services A FURTHER day was
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devoted, last week, to the hearing of eight applications by the L.M.S. Railway Co. for 27 extra vehicles and a like number of trailers for use in the Manchester, Liverpool and Burnley districts.
In cross-examination of railway witnesses, Mr. H. Backhouse, solicitor for the C.M.U.A., elicited much information about the " throughoutroad" services of the railway companies in these districts. The main admissions were of loads for John Watts,. Ltd., by road from Burnley to Liverpool when a certain ship could not be caught by using the train service, and carrying a return load of timber ; of an occasional load of wet bides from Liverpool to iVarriegton for a customer who would not have sent them by rail ; and of regular morning and evening road runs from Oldham to Manchester with ordinary consignments which were railborne to OT from Manchester,
A point from this hearing, to which special importance has been attached, is the new attitude taken up on behalf of the railway companies by Mr. Gilbert Woodward. He held that, unless specially called upon to do so by the Licens ing Authority, it is not incumbent upon the applicant to give information in respect of a period prior to the previous renewal or grant.
Three times Mr. Backhouse asked for figures beyond the period of the previous grant, in order that he might make comparisons with conditions a year ago. Each time, Ailr. W. Chamberlain, North-Western Licensing Authority, complied and the railway representatives promised the figures. But Mr. Chamberlain pointed out that there might be repercussions; there might be occasions when he would require -the same figures from road hauliers.
Mr. Backhouse replied that such figures had never been withheld by any of his clients, but if the position were that, normally, cases should not go back beyond the date of the previous grant, he would gladly welcome the principle.
The railway cases have been adjourned. Mr. Chamberlain also deferred a decision with reference to the railway application for short-term licences to cover the autumn-Christmas rush