Coachways mean sanity
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I REFER to your news item on British Coachways (CM May 16, p22).
This article infers that the Confederation of British Road Passenger Transport (CIBS) has issued a warning of the "cutprice menace" of British Coachways.
This company is in membership, and has been from the outset, of the CIBS, and it is wrong to attribute the statement reported in that article as being a CIBS warning.
The article is not accurate in describing Peter Rogers as being the chairman of that organisation.
I am given to understand that he is a regional chairman in Nottingham but your article credits him with being the chairman of the whole organisation.
I must also disagree with the point's of view expressed by Mr Rogers. It is quite wrong of him to describe the man who led the marketing campaign on the launch of British Coachways, who is an expert on marketing, as the heir apparent to any title.
It is churlish to say that he has now quit the industry. The truth is that he has moved on into an airline to continue to make the best use of his marketing expertise.
Those of us who are constant in the involvement in British Coachways from the beginning will certainly stand by our costings and commitments and not only have we now launched the summer programme with increased timetables, greater frequencies and new routes, but have invested yet more money into the provision of improved rolling stock.
What is happening on prices, is that sanity is now back into coach prices. Clearly the public is responding to the levels of prices at which they can now buy coach travel.
Mr Rogers must presumably be expressing a private view in this matter, and his experience must relate to aspects of the travel and transport industry, other than the express services in which British Coachways are involved.
The coach business is all about people and competition, and it has always had to survive by enterprise, and in my opinion it is no use bleating to this, or any other government, for equal treatment on fuel duty rebate, because the argument has taken place over and over again without any benefit to the coaching side of the transport industry.
G. STEEL Operations director Wallace Arnold Tours Ltd Leeds