Transport for Steel Towns A Tough Problem
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By Alfred Woolf, BA.
TRADITIONALLY, the links between Swansea and the steel towns of Llanelly and Port Talbot have always been strong. Since its inception, the South Wales Transport Co., Ltd., the operations of which were described in "The Commercial Motor" on April 18, has sought to strengthen them with frequent passenger services.
Now a physical connection has been made between the transport systems of these hard-working and developing communities. Possibly as a result of the presence at Swansea of an enterprising general manager of South Wales Transport, Mr. W. M. Dravers, the British Electric Traction Co., Ltd., has acquired the main operating companies in Llanelly and Port Talbot. To the student of transport, the methods by which the passenger-transport needs of the two towns are met offer a most interesting contrast.
Since the turn of the century, the principal passenger road transport concern in Llanelly has been Llanelly District Traction Co., which has operated double-deck trolleybuses since 1932. The town has a population of 35,000 and, apart from the disadvantage of very narrow streets and low bridges, is not an area which offers great physical difficulties to bus operation.
In Port Talbot, however, a town of 41,000 inhabitants, the position is quite different. There, the town services are provided by Thomas Bros. (Port Talbot), Ltd., and Afan Transport Co., Ltd., a distillate of some 25 small firms which competed formerly for such traffic as there was in the relatively small town, which is hemmed-in to north and west by hills rising to 1,600 ft., and neatly quartered by a river and a main-line railway.
Yet, in a way, there are similarities. At Margam, a few miles to the east of Port Talbot, the Steel Co. of Wales has recently completed the Abbey works, the 1argest continuous-strip-steel mill in the world. A similar plant is under construction at Trostre, which is two miles or so east of Llanelly. Both towns have a long history of steel and tin-plate manufacture, both had busy docklands and both are on a sandy coastline, which draws the population in its thousands during the summer. Both towns, too, are exceptionally busy traffic centres and their populations are growing.
The operation of public passenger services in Llanelly dates back to 1898, when a Mr. Andrews began to run horsed buses. These met .a public need recognized by the passing of the Llanelly and District Light Railway Act in 1907, authorizing the establishment of street tramways. hi 1910, the Balfour-Beatty group, through the local Electric Light and Traction Co., its subsidiary, took over the system and converted it to electric working in May, 1911.
The first routes ran from the town centre to Bynea., Felinfoel and Pw11. Open-top double-deck trains were employed, which became a familiar feature of the town until, in December, 1932, they were abandoned and replaced by trolleybuses. At that time, some of the routes were extended, such as the Town-Bynea service, which now runs out to the Carmarthenihire boundary at Loughor bridge.
The narrowness of the streets• and the daily influx of people from the surrounding rural areas—Llanelly still has one of the largest covered markets in Wales—made operation difficult, bothin respect of time-keeping and of the maintenance and repair of overhead equipment.
In 1936, single-deck motorbuses were added to the fleet. With these, new routes to developing housing estates, and to parts of the town where the trolleybuses could not penetrate, were opened. Even so, the singledeckers were built to a low overall height, for some of the railway bridges in the town have a clear• ance of only g ft.
At the moment the company operates eight services, with a route-mileage of 20.6. The trolleybuses, of which • there are 27, made• up •of 11 Leylands dating back to the conversion • scheme, 12. Karriers and four Guys, operate from the railway station to Felirt-Foel, Loughor and Pwll, north, east and west respectively.
The 15 motorbuses run services from Ty-isaf to Dafen, Pen-y-fan to Mach-ynys and Felin-Foel, Furnace to Bwlchgwynt, and Mach-yriys to Pemberton. This last route is the longest, 'covering 9.2 miles. They thus effectively link the troileybus About 50 per cent, of the motorbuses are' of post-war manufacture, and are all based on A.E.C. Regal chassis. Each seats 34 passengers and the bodywork is by ,Weymann Motor Bodies, Ltd., Strachans (Successors), Ltd., and Bruce Coachworks, Ltd., Cardiff. Although normally employed on stage-carriage work, some buses are fitted with semi-luxury seats and have sliding roofs and luggage lockers, because excursions and tours figure in the company's activities.
These came about after the acquisition, in 1935, of three local operators, Messrs. R. A. Davies and So n, . Messrs. Gimblett Services, and Messrs. Sages Services. Only the excursion and tour licences held by Messrs.. Sages were
taken over. In • the summer the company deals with .a heavy local demand for tours running t o Cardiff, Gloucester, Cheltenham and Malvern, as well as to West Wales.
As the company was part of the BalfourBeatty electric supply group, it was one of the first road transport concerns to be nationalized. This took place when the British Electricity Authority vyas vested in 1948.
-Fares scales are based on those of 1907 and are absurdly low in relation to to-day's costs. But these lOw rates—the adult single scale ranges from a minimum of id. to a maximum of 3d., whilst the minimum workmen's return fare is Id., will have to be revised. Other operators in the area—the new parent company, South Wales Transport, for example, which purchased Llanelly and District from B.E.A. early this year, and United Welsh Services, Ltd.—have twice increased their charges, so that traffic carried by Llanelly District has begun to creep up.
For example, in January this year the trolleybuses carried 690,597 passengers over 54,511 miles. In 1951, slightly under 8m. passengers were carried and the total mileage was 700,000. By January of this year the average number of passengers per mile had passed the 12.6 mark-L--a noteworthy figure. By contrast, the 1938 figures were 5m. passengers and 558,057 miles.
The motorbus statistics are only slightly below this level, despite the smaller capacity of the vehicles, In January they carried 205,936 passengers over 24,101 miles. The average number of passengers per mile was 8.54. A .measure of the traffic congestion is provided by the fuel-consumption return of 9.06 m.p.g.
A slightly higher average fuel-consumplion return is obtained by Thomas Bros. (Port Talbot), Ltd. , and Afan Transport Co., Ltd., and this can only be accounted a' remarkable achievement. For the picture of transport in Port Talbot—the nameof the. borough formed by Furnace Afebi2-Foei ..Pte! friNFIAlt) VIII 4*
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the amalgamation of the urban districts of Aberavon and Margam—is dominated by a level-crossing.
This is situated only 50 yds. east of the busy and narrow road (Water Street) to Aberavon beach, and crosses High Street, the main road (A 48) to the west. The effect of the close juxtaposition of the crossing with Water Street is to inflict a 10-minute delay on most journeys run by the fleet.
At some times of the day the closing of the levelcrossing and the consequent bottling-up of the traffic coming up into the town from the beach causes congestion.which is felt for several miles to the east and west, and takes much patience and time to clear. Not. until the traffic on the main road is cleared can the vehicles in Water Street start moving. In fact, when shop blinds are extended in the summer, a pantechnicon parked at the top of Water Street brings the town to a standstill.
Moreover, as the river runs down to the sea parallel with Water Street, there is no way of by-passing the bottle-neck. The result is an exasperating situation which must have serious repercussions on the whole story of transport operation west of Cardiff.
It is not surprising, therefore, that passenger-transport operation in Port Talbot started late. The relatively uncontrolled competition of the early operators of cx-W.D. vehicles after the 1914-1918 war was per petuated for many years. At one time there were between 20 and 25 operators in the area. Even, after the 1939-45 war, there were several firms running 25-seat single-deckers on Bedford or similar petrolengined chassis.
This was the position when amalgamation took place under the B.E.T. in June, 1951, when Thomas Bros. took over Messrs. Davies Bros., Messrs_ Thomas and James, and later D. Jones and Sons (stage services only). In February, 1952, Messrs. Lewis and Jones were also acquired. In consequence, the town is now served by one of the few "new" major operating groups in the country—a combination formed by Thomas Bros. (Port Talbot), Ltd., and Afan Transport Co., Ltd. Like so many of its predecessors, it is working hard to promote order and efficiency under most harassing conditions.
The combined fleet at present. numbers 49 vehicles, and most of the Bedford 25-seat buses have been disposed of. Out of the total,. 12 am coaches, all on Bedford chassis, used on private-hire work, excursions and tours, and for which the companies hold two licences.
Standardization of the bus fleet has hardly commenced, although already over 80 per cent. of the vehicles have oil engines. Because of the low bridges, double-deckers are barred from the south of the town. There are, however, seven in the fleet, five ex-City of Oxford A.E.0 Regent Mk. II, one Leyland and one Daimler, all used on the, Aberavon-Tonmawr service, which runs out of the town to the north up the narrow winding river valley. They cannot, however, cross into the town, even for maintenance at the main garage at SandfieIds, situated near the beach, and are therefore housed in an open yard at Caanavon.
New Livery The single-deckers are based or A.E.C, Bedford, Daimler, Dennis, Leyland, Seddon and Tilling-Stevens chassis, many acquired from other undertakings. Practically the whole fleet has now been repainted in the new standard livery of royal blue and electric blue.
Between them, the buses operate eight services with a total route-mileageof X. Throughout the borough there are stops every 33g yds., which do not help in time-keeping, but a high. frequency is maintained, the normal headway being five minutes. Despite the delays caused by the level-crossing, and the presence of Other operators' vehicles in the town—South Wales and the Western Welsh. Omnibus Co., Ltd., as well as other smaller concerns—the fleet returns a high utilization
factor. In the 101 months of the financial year
1951-1952, -after the B.E.T. took over and: while fleet expansion was taking place, 5,968,553 passengers were carried over 792,006 miles.
These figures will undoubtedly be Soon surpassed, for the new Abbey works at Margarn will add greatly to the population. As it is,. there. are already two services to the Works from the town,. Starting ftenal the beach and from the housing estate a mile or so to the north. The three-shift system operated at this and other steel works helps with the peak-hour traffic problem,. but the day maintenance shift„ which is. also operated, coincides with the normal office, school and shopping peaks.
Even Traffic . The staff of 1.22, under Mr. J. H. Gilbert, who took over on March 1 this year, has little respite, for there is little variation in the summer and winter traffic. In summer, however, the beach can cause problems: One example occurred on an August Bank Holiday which started as a fine day,. only to be followed by a sudden . rainstorm. The transport system was suddenly called upon to. remove many thousands of people from the unsheltered beach.
But these difficulties are the spice of life in road transport. • Under the guidance of the South Wales Transport Ltd., and with a little enterprise and vision on the part of the local authorities, the Port Talbot concerns will no doubt become a source of local pride, as well as an efficient and profitable unit. of the B.E.T.
S.W.T. is promoting a Bill in the present Parliamentary session providing for the abandonment of the LIarielly troIleybuses and higher fares; this Bill has had. its second reading. 'But the local councils possess an option to purchase the undertaking in 1960, which may discourage far-reaching changes. Meanwhile, it is being drawn into the S.W.T. system. The motorbuses will be overhauledat Ravenhill in future, and thetrolleybuses will continue to be maintained, at the' Robinson Street headquarters. But already the 'system is being, changed to run parallel with that operated on the Mumbles railway.
These changes can only be forthe good. South Wales Transport will see that progress is rapid