PASSENGER MOTORS AND HOLIDAY TRAFFIC.
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Some Aspects of Whitsun Road Travel in North Eastern Districts Where Bookings Were Considerable.
-WHITSUNTIDE resolved itself into a road holiday in the North of England, as in other parts of the country, as a result of the drastic " cuts " made by the railway companies in their services, and reports from leading motorbus and motor coach proprietors in all districts tell the same story of record bookings and abnormal traffic demands. Motorbus undertakings, and in particular those operating services from industrial centres to country or seaside resorts, wete unable, in many cases, to cope with the exceptional demands made upon them from Saturday to Monday, despite specially accelerated holiday arrangements and the running of frequent " specials " in addition to the scheduled vehicles.
On Tyneside the Newcastle Corporation Transport Undertaking, which maintains a network of about seventy miles of routes with its recently modernized fleet of A.E.C., Dennis, Daimler and Guy pneumatic-tyred units, was kept working at top pres sure, and its vehicles conveyed large numbers of holiday-makers to numerous parts of the surrounding area. The services to the two charming inland townships of Hexham and Balmy, which, under the finding of the Ministry of Transport's recent inquiry (referred to elsewhere in this feature), are to be discontinued, were amongst the best patronized routes in the district, whilst there were almost equally large bookings to Seaton Sluice, a popular coastal town.
There was a similar holiday rush on practically all sections of the large network of motorbus routes maintained by the Northern General Transport Co., Ltd., to the immediate south of the Tyne, and extending into almost all parts of North, West and East Durham. This company, who recently absorbed the business of the Sunderland District Transpoili Co., Ltd., now have a route mileage of between 225 and 250, and a fleet of approximately 300 buses. Bookings to Roker (Sunderland) and South Shields were particularly heavy, a remark which applies also to a number of Country townships to which "Northern" services are run.
Farther to the south, United Automobile Services, Ltd., who, from their Bishop Auckland offices, operate over about 300 miles of highway in the district lying between Durham City and Ripon and Harrogate, had something approaching record traffic returns over the holiday period. The "United" services in this area link up such important towns as West Hartlepool, Darlington, Stockton, Middlesbrough, Richmond, Jledcar, Barnard Castle, Saltburn, Northallerton and Thirsk by means of a comprehensive system of intorconnecting facilities. During the general strike the c-ompany won the admiration of all loyal northerners by the determined and successful measures which they took to ensure passenger services over their entire area, despite opposition in some quarters.
The adequate maintenance of this extensive system of routes necessitates the employment of a fleet of about 200 A.E.C. and Daimler vehicles, the majority of which are shod with giant pneumatics. In the Darlington district, one of the largest centres of activity of United Automobile Services,
Ltd., record business was done over the holiday, the biggest volume of traffic being on the Richmond and Barnard Castle routes. Sports and cyclists' meetings at each place attracted many thousands of visitors and, in the absence of railroad facilities, a large proportion of people turned to the use of road motors. Half-hourly services were run over each section, whilst numerous "specials" were also introduced on each route and enabled the company to cope with one of the biggest road rushes ever experienced in that neighbourhood.