PASSENGER TRAVEL NEWS.
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The Latest Doings and Developments in the Bus and Coach World.
BUS PROBLEMS IN YORKSHIRE DISTRICTS.
Bradford and Huddersfield as Centres of Interesting Passenger Transport Matters.
WITH a view to countering motorbus competition the tramways department of the Bradford Corporation introduced some time ago a revised scale of fares. The return for the first six months dealing with the operation of the new fares has just been published and it is claimed that the results entirely justify the experiment, the statement being made that
• 1,500,000 passengers have been brought back to the trams in the six months. The Bradford authorities now provide a ride of over seven miles for the maximum fare of 2d., a journey which cost (id. before the alteration. The id, fares were not changed, but the lid. fares were increased to 2d., and there has been some criticism in Bradford of the latter arrangement.
On a gross income of £356,839 on the whole of the service, which in
eludes tramcars, trolley-buses and motorbuses, a profit of 1.30,161 for the six months is shown, this being a net amount after the payment of L56,000 for interest and sinking fund charges. In the same period last year the net profit was £12,000. With gross receipts amounting to £20,000 on the trolley-bus system there was a net loss amounting to £985, but with the net receipts on the motorbuses amounting to £26,000 there was a profit of £5,486.
The tramway question was made an important subject in the municipal elections in Bradford. The Chamber of Trade circularized candidates and asked if they were in favour of all private motorbus owners being given fuller facilities without the unacceptable and difficult regulations now imposed and if they were in support of substituting obsolete and worn-out tramway systems by motorbuses.
Since the elections the Bradford City Council has confirmed a previous decision to proceed with a Parliamentary Bill, the principal clauses of which deal with passenger transport matters. It was stated before the elections that if the city council did not give its approval to the purchase of a section of the Halifax Corporation tramways between the Bradford terminus at Bailiff Bridge and Brighouse the other proposals would be dropped.
There was some opposition to this proposal at the meeting, hut eventually the purchase was approved. The length of this route is 11 miles and a sum of 17,000 is to be paid, and it is an open secret that Halifax will not be sorry to be rid of a piece of track which has never been profitable. How it can be profitable to Bradford with the maximum fare of 2d. in operation on its system is not clear. -Under this arrangement passengers from Brighouse will be able to travel through to Bradford for 2d. and, apparently, passengers will he given a longer ride for a smaller fare.
Thissection of route has an interesting transport history. It was laid down by Halifax Corporation to a gauge which is different from that ef Bradford as well as from that of Huddersfield, which links up at Brighouse. Thus between Bradford, Bailiff Bridge, Brighouse and Huddersfiehl there are . three gauges of tramway track.
Huddersfield Corporation desired to run a through service of buses between Huddersfield and Bradford about twelve months ago, and a Ministry of Transport inquiry was held at which a stiff fight was put up by the railway companies, which contended that there was an adequate railway service between the two places. The Ministry did not -approve the application made by Huddersfield. Then came the Bradford Parliamentary Bill, with the Bradford-to-Huddersfield route as one of those on which the Bradford authorities desired to obtain running powers. The Bill was thrown out and Bradford cannot fun a service. Huddersfield made another attempt some time ago, and an inquiry was held recently, the result of which was referred to in our issue dated November 29th.
A short time ago a number of private companies sought to upset the decision of the Huddersfield Licensing Committee that licences should not be granted to private companies on this route. The companies which have endeavoured to get licences on this route and have been refined are Messrs. 0. and C. Holdsworth (Hebble Bus Services), of Halifax, the Barnsley and District Traction Co., Ltd., of Barnsley, and the Yorkshire (Woollen District) Tramways Co., Ltd., of Dewsbury. The first-named, which runs from Bradford to Brighouse and has carried 4,800 passengers per week on this route, suggested that it should be enabled to run a joint service with the Huddersfield Corporation between Bradford and Huddersfield as it did between Halifax and Huddersfield. The Barnsley and District Traction Co., Ltd., desired to run a through service between Barnsley and Bradford, whilst the last-mentioned concern said it had the necessary sanction from all the local authorities on the routes from Huddersfield to Bradford and Huddersfield to Cleckheaton, with the exception of that of the Huddersfield authorities. Since the hearing the Ministry has sanctioned the application of Huddersfield to run through to Bradford, and has intimated to the Huddersfield Corporation that it should issue licences to the Hebble Services, of Halifax, to enable them to run from Bradford to Huddersfield, the services to be in the proportion of two to one in favour of the corporation.
A proposal to lay a third rail in connection with the transfer of the Bailiff Bridge tramway route to Bradford so as to enable vehicles of two gauges-4 ft. for Bradford cars and 3 ft. 6 ins. for the Halifax cars—will certainly meet with a good deal of criticism from other road users. The last report of the Leeds and Bradford Regional Town Planning Committee stated that, from observations made concerning the density of traffic, there was a general tendency to avoid those roads which carried tram-tracks, as indicating the obstructive character of this form of traffic, but what the position will be if three rails instead of two are laid down and complicated point Systems introduced for loop lines and junctions one can scarcely imagine. It will be realized that the new rail will not be in a central position. OAD performance is the only real it/guide to the capabilities of a motor vehicle, and for this reason, if for no other, we were glad of an opportunity for participating in a demonstration run organized a few days ago by Renault. Ltd., to draw attention to the merits of its 26.9 h.p. luxury bus model. The route chosen for the trip was from London to Cliftonville and return, the journey being made via Maidstone and Canterbury.
The run was made the more auspicious by reason of the fact that Major H. 0. D. Segrave, the holder of the world's speed record for a motorcar, took a hand at the wheel for a good portion of the outward trip and fur the whole of the return journey. The vehicle was a 20-seater, and it carried a full complement of passengers. The body
was made in Prance, and as it was a Weymann fabric product we were also able to adjudge some of tbe merits of the principle employed in this type. The round trip of between 150 miles and 160 miles was completed without a hitch of any kind, and good average speeds—in the vicinity of 30 m.p.h. for the whole journey—were maintained, despite the condition of the road surface, which, in some places, had a treacherous top coating of grease. and a heavy blanket of mist which shrouded the landscape for many miles on the outward run.
These unpropitious conditions, however, merely afforded further scope for ascertaining the capabilities of the has. Particularly its power of acceleration and braking. In the former connection the six-cylindered engine was most responsive to all demands made upon it, and in the latter the value of four-wheel brakes operated through a servo device was distinctly pronounced, the vehicle showing no tendency to skid when braked fairly abruptly at high speeds. In fact, the marked smooth running of the bus at all speeds created a surprising sense of security, although the general confidence reposed in the man at the wheel undoubtedly contributed to this end. The absence of noise in the interior gave rise to favourable comments from members of the party and testified to the claim of silence made for the Weymann body.
Of the run itself there is no outstanding incident to relate, for the vehicle ran with perfect regularity, but a reference might, perhaps, be made to the welcome which awaited the party upon arrival at Cliftonville. The local Renault agents, the Kingsgate Garage, Percy Avenue, Kingsgate, had foreseen the possibilities of advertising the arrival of the bus with Major Segrave at the wheel, with the result that a crowd several hundred strong congregated outside the hotel at the scheduled time—an unrehearsed incident which formed an amusing interlude.
A few details of the outstanding features of the chassis will not be out of place. As we have already said, a six cylindered power unit is employed, the cylinders being arranged in bi-bloc formation, and it has a bore of 85 mu'. and a stroke of 140 mm. The R.A.C. rating of the engine is 26.9 h.p. The carburetter is of the dashpot type, with automatic extra-air inlet, and ignition is by high-tension magneto, having automatic advance. Lubrication is effected on the forced-feed principle, and an oil
radiator and purifier are fitted. The thermo-siphonic system is relied upon for circulating the cooling water and the fan is incorporated in the flywheel. The drive from the engine is conveyed through an inverted cone-type clutch to a four-speed-and-reverse gearbox, the changes of gear being effected by a centrally disposed lever. 'Direct drive is obtained on fourth speed. The speeds in various gears at an engine speed of 2,000 r.p.m. are as follow:— let, 8 m.p.h.; 2nd, 121, m.p.h.; 3rd, 20 m.p.h.; 4th, 39 m.p.h. The thrust is taken by a. torque ball located ahead of the gearbox. There is a eardan joint in the transmission line, and the final drive is by bevel pinion and crown wheel. The back axle has a patent central casing, consisting of caststeel halves.
The braking equipment has received special attention. The foot brake takes effect on all four wheels through the medium of a servo device, whilst the hand-brake lever controls shoes working in drums in the rear wheels. Normally, the chassis is equipped with 855 mm. by 155 ma. pneumatic tyres on all wheels, with twins at the rear, but in the case of the vehicle taking part in the run to Cliftonville singles only were used on the rear wheels. The wheelbase of the chassis is 14 ft. 5 ins., its front track 5 ft. 9 ins, and rear track
ATRANSPORT development of considerable interest and importance, especially in the west country, was publicly announced on the last day of November. It was to the effect that arrangements had been completed for the ansulganiation of the Devon and Cornwall Motor Transport Companies, of which Lieut.-Commander F. T. Hare, R.N., is managing director, and which operate 140 buses over routes covering most parts of • Cornwall and South Devon, with the National Omnibus and Transport Co., Ltd., the chairman of which is Sir John Jarvis.
The. news of the amalgamation was announced to the employees of the Devon and Cornwall companies the night before it was made public, and an intimation was given that all the existing engineers and managers would retain their positions.
Furthermore—and this was an announcement which evoked enthusiasm among the employees—Lieut.-Commander Hare, who it is recognized has 5 ft. 7 ins., whilst it will turn in a circle having a radius of 23 ft. The height of the frame members from the ground when the vehicle is under load is 1 ft. 10 his. The general design of the chassis would appear to be conceived on sound lines, and its main features fit it particularly for passenger transport service, been chiefly responsible for the remarkably successful growth of the Devon and Cornwall companies, will continue to manage the enterprise in that area and will take a seat on the board of directors of the National Omnibus and Transport Co., Ltd., with which two other local directors, Captain H. Vinson Thomas and Mr. G. J. D. Smith, will also be associated.
The Devon Motor Transport Co., Ltd., and its sister cotcern in Cornwall were started in 1919 by a small group of ex-officers, who adopted the principle of employing as many ex-service men as possible, and at the present time over 250 such employees are on the staff. The annual mileage covered by the companies' buses has been approximately four million.
As is well known, the National Omnibus and Transport Co., Ltd., operates over the whole of Essex, a large part of Hertfordshire, Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire and round the north of Middlesex, the outskirts of London, as well as in Dorsetshire, Wiltshire, Hampshire, Somerset, North Devon and North Cornwall. Last year it acquired the HardyColvvill bus undertaking which operated in North Devoa, Cornwall and Somerset.
German Public-service Vehicles.
IN our issue dated October 11th we published, under the heading of our feature entitled , " Passenger Travel News," some figsires relative to the comparative results obtained in Germany during the first half of the present year from the running of public road motor services by the German Post Office and by private undertakings.
Considerable interest was taken in the figures by certain bas-service operators, one of whom drew atterftion to the apparent amall mileage covered by the privately owned vehicles. We have, therefore, made some further inquiries in Germany with regard to the figures, and find that owing to the accidental dropping of an "0" in the figures as printed in the German original which came under our notice, we were led to make some misleading deductions. Thus, we find that the number of passengers carried by the privately owned vehicles was 21,250,000 and the mileage covered by them during the six months 7,281,250.
The result is that instead of the average mileage per vehicle during the six montha for the privately owned buses being about a fifth of that run by those of the German Post Office, the six months' .average worked out at between 9,000 and 10,000 miles fur the private vehicles and approximately 5,000 for those used by the postal authorities.