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MOTOR COACH STATIONS of the Future
Page 128
Page 129
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A Review of Some of the Lessons that Experience has Taught, Concluding with a Description of a New Station Designed for London
THE experience of the past few years in the matter of coach stations has brought forward some rather unexpected results. Requirements that appeared to be almost indispensable have proved, in fact, to be of less importance, whilst other factors, not anticipated to call for such serious considerations, have given traffic managers long and persistent trouble.
The acquisition of ground and the purchase or construction of buildings are matters of such financial weight that stations have not sprung up in large numbers in all centres of motor coaching. All the same, there are many examples about the country that are well worth studying.
To many of those who have provided particularly comfortable rooms for the use of passengers, it has been a surprise to find such amenities not accorded their rightful share of appreciation and, conversely, it must have occurred to numbers of managers of coach stations which offered scanty comfort that few complaints were heard from travellers.
This is a curious thing. In part, the explanation is that long waits at stations have been largely eliminated by advanced bookings, frequent departures, and the convenient co-ordination of interconnecting coach services—even of services run by different companies.
-There is, however, another reason for the comparative lack of interest on the part of passengers in the comfcrts—or the absence of them—of coach-station
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accommodation. This is the fact that a large section of the public has become imbued with a kind of travel-by-road spirit. Undoubtedly, this has made people less critical of coach-station amenities than they would normally be. They appreciate the cheapness of the fares the absence of railway smoke' the freedom from the piercing shrieks of locomotive whistles and terrifying escapes of steam, the deliverance from that railway-porter manner, the allround facility of road travel, and they have not asked for a high standard of comfort at the actual coach stations. Apart from anything else, the quietness of such stations has been a comfort in itself.
Let not the above fact influence coachstation proprietors towards a relaxation of efforts to provide comfort for . their clients. Those who see ahead will realize that the time is now approaching when, as a result of keener competition between coach operators and between road and railway travel, everything possible needs to be done to attract passengers.
Another conclusion from past coachstation experience is that it is not necessary -to construct a large covered area. Coaches awaiting their departure times may well be parked in the open. Let the rain fall on them if it will—it can but wash off the mud. The cost of extensive glazed roofs has turned many operators from the idea of providing coach stations, but roofs of big area over parking grounds are not essential. The shelter needs but to extend a little beyond the loading pavement.
Two Important Difficulties.
Two difficulties that have made themselves felt in the past two years have been the handling of the coaches themselves and the marshalling IA the passengers. It is not an easy matter to arrange for coaches to depart in a prescribed order, or to line them -up at loading bays according to schedule, Departures on different routes are often arranged for the same time. If the coach intended to leave first is, perhaps,
not quite ready ainl if narrow runways be part of the coach-station scheme, following coaches are delayed.
The nose-in method of placing coaches for loading and unloading, using roofed .bays, has advantages, as this journal has pointed out in the past. Destination indicators on the fronts of vehicles are prominent, since the vehicles stand in line facing in the same direction, the roof area is limited, and passengers are kept from walking in the coach ways.
A single long platform, adjacent to the waiting-rooms, etc., is another successful arrangement. The coaches can draw out, as in the nose-in kind of station, and depart independently. The marshalling of passengers proves a far more difficult problem than almost any traffic manager has anticipated. In the days before stations it was thought that, once well-planned stations were available, the passengers would take care of themselves. That seems to be the only thing they are unable to do.
One of the troubles is that they do not opear to be able to read departure and route indicators, nor do they feel disposed to place trust in them for fear of last-minute alterations. There is, no doubt, some excuse for that frame of mind. It can be overcome by installing really effectiee indicators which have a businesslike appearance and which are made to earn a reputation for themselves as regards reliability. If traffic arrangements are altered, the indicator should immediately be corrected.
Another great help in the marshalling of numbers of passengers is the complete segregation of the booking counter from the inquiry bureau, It is not fair to expect booking clerks to know every village in the country, neither is it satisfactory for one person to delay others who wish to make bookings. • A fine corner-site coach station has just been designed for London Coastal Coaches, Ltd., to take the place of the one at Lupus Street, London, S.W.1. The new station is to be quite near by, in Buekingham Palace Road, on the corner of Elizabeth Street, and building is to commence this month.
As this station incorporates many of the latest ideas, we cannot do better than conclude this article by explaining the layout. The design does credit to the architects, who are Messrs. Wallis, Gilbert and Partners, 29, Roland Gardens, London, S.W.7.
The Value of a Corner Site.
A corner site is always a good one for a coach station. The buildingis to be L-shaped, the entrance for passengers being on the corner, and two archways being provided At opposite ends of the building through which coaches may enter and leave the enclosed parking ground and loading bay. On the ground floor will be a very large booking office, sufficiently well appointed and spacious enough to serve as a waiting room. A separate inquiry bureau is to be provided, also a left-luggage office. At each end of the building traffic inspectors' offices will overlook the entrance and exit gates, keeping a propet check on arrivals and departures. On one side of the booking office is to be a large quick-service buffet bar, where, in comfort and with no delay, passengers may obtain refreshment. From this buffet a stairway leads to a large and comfortable restaurant on the first floor, the kitchens being at the far end of this floor, above the goods entrance.
Utilizing the Basement.
In the basement will be arranged a drivers' restroom and canteen, an inspectors' dining-room, a separate kitchen and commodious ladies' and gentlemen's cloakrooms. Part of the ground-floor area will be let out as shops, and a mezzanine floor will provide store accommodation for these shops.
Part of the first floor, as well as the second, third and fourth floors, will be let off as offices, access to these being provided by a separate lift at one end of the building. The rest of the first floor will be divided into offices for the accounts department, chartroom staff, cashier's department, boardroom, secretary, typists' and stationery department.
In addition to these offices, which will overlook the road, there will be a large telephone exchange, with approximately 150 private and public lines, a manager's office, a general traffic and inquiry department, restaurant, kitchens, etc.
The banding is so designed that, from the first floor upward, it extends inward over a long L-shaped loading platform, thereby acting as a shelter. A further shelter over a considerable area is to be provided by a glazed roof. Beyond this will be an uncovered park, with, on one side, petrnl pumps, etc. It is, 'however, intended that vehicles with a lay-over of more than half an hour or so will go to the Lupus Street park.
This new station is expected to handle approximately 9,000,000 passengers per year, or anything from 250 coaches per day up to 1,100 coaches on special days.