PASSENGER TRAVEL NEWS.
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The Latest Doings and Developments -in the Bus and Coach World.
4.1•..1••■■■■•
AN IRISH BUS ENTERPRISE.
What the Formation of the Belfast Omnibus Co., Ltd., Means to Belfast and the Surrounding Areas.
• WITH the recent establishment of the Belfast Omnibus Co., Ltd., • which has its headquarters in University Street, in the Ulster capital, the wheels of progress are moving apace in the bus world of Northern Ireland. . The genesis of the present comprehensive organization was the taking over by the active pioneers of the new company—Mr. C. W. Batten, A.M.Inst.T., now acting as general manager, and Mr. II C. Merrett, P.C.A., managing director—of some 34 small proprietary companies, the combined vehicles of which, numbering upwards of 200, were serving an urban and rural population scattered throughout the greater portion of the province of Ulster.
It must be borne in mind, however, at the outset of this brief description of the activities of the new organization that the conventional evils which a misinformed public is, in some cases, wont to attribute to many amalgamations of business interests are conspicuously wanting in the facts that underlie the bringing into existence of the Belfast Omnibus Co., Ltd. The old proprietors, by whose goodwill and co-operation the new amalgamation was made possible, are strongly represented on the board of directors, and this, in conjunction with other revelant facts, goes to prove that the new enterprise is a thoroughly independent Irish organization which fully recognizes its obligations to the public and is intent on giving ;good service. The mention of such matters as these will, it is hoped, help to counteract some erroneous impressions which exist among a certain section of the people of Belfast regarding the character of the B.O.C.
However, the present activities of the new company are anything but representative of what the people of Ulster will experience when the organization is complete and in full working order, towards which end developments are now proceeding. The erection of a spacious garage on the company's premises in FAeiversity Street, capable of accommodaTing 50 32-seater motor coaches, is now well on the way towards completion. Adequate work
shops and the latest machinery for the renovation and repair of vehicles have been provided. Departmental offices are now ready for the installation of the staffs necessary to deal with the clerical and executive sides of the business, and other portents of future schemes strike the attention of one who moves about the new premises and workshops. It cannot be denied that many of the buses which have hitherto been working on several of the routes now coming within the field of operations of the 'company are not so satisfactory as they might be from the point of view of their condition or their capacity.
It will be a primary object of the new concern to replace all the smaller vehicles which have come into its possession by commodious and comfortable vehicles of the most up-to-date types and to overhaul and refit ' all the acquired rolling stock, so as to ensure a first-class service on every route on which the -buses run. Already there have been 20 new buses of the latest
type added to the local fleet and,
within a short period, it is the object of the management to have 60 similar vehicles in regular use. The ;bugtravelling public of Ulster may, therefore, look forward to a very satisfactory augmentation of the facilities which have hitherto existed.
The co-ordination and the systematic organization of the various irregular services which were maintained in the Past will result in a better series of services being run to carefully prepared time-tables at economical fares.
The extensive operations of the com pany throughout Ulster may be judged from the fact that its buses run from Belfast to and from such distant places as Newry and Rostrevor in the south, Portaferry, . Donaghadee and Bangor on the east, the Island Magee, Larne and Cushendel Obl the northeast coast, Portrush and Coleraine. via Ballymona in the north, and Enniskillen in the west.
There can be no doubt that, In the
creation of the Belfast Omnibus Co., Ltd., another -worthy !enterprise has been added to the long list of those which have _already made the Ulster province famous for its progressive tendencies. Whilst there is sometimes a feeling of suspicion against trusts and combines, there is no doubt that in the transport world they often permit better service to be given.