BUS V. TRAM

Evening Post, Volume CXIX, Issue 129, 3 June 1935, Page 8

BUS V. TRAM

(To the Editor.)

Sftr,—For a long timC I have been hoping to see someone reply; to the misleading remarks about bus v. Jtram in England; I had been in New Zealand nearly twenty-three years when I returned for the first time, in~ 1928, and spent fifteen weeks travelling in England, and after that twenty-three years could easily see • how every' city we visited had very much increased its tram service, especially; London, Birmingham, and Bristol, and not a trolleybus to be seen. In 1933, not two years ago, I was in England again, and this time had one of the "shilling-all-day" tickets, and was riding on trams from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., except half an hour at "Elephant and Castle" for lunch, going from end to end of nearly every route in South London and some north of Thames, but we saw no line, discarded,, and-no,•trolley-bus,^ I.canvassure you no one will ever see, them in London, because there/jare, no overhead cables within miles.,ofVihe city. Mr. E. Philpot-Crowther shojfldsgo and stand at the corner of CJapton Road and Lea Bridge Road, fqr,one place, and see the marvellous.i.Vrafnsfererice of "overhead" t6 "shoes.".*., £rom there to the city all the trams run, r on three, lines, the centre one containing, the power, but at Lea Bridge Road the overhead poles are brought j into use again.for several more miles, and this happens on other routes'-where longdistance lines finish neat;*; the city There never have been trains through the city: you have to go by bus from one terminus to another. :

In Northampton one short line only of tram route has been changed to trolley-bus, and the reason is that the old street is so narrow and motors have so increased that they were often hindered by the tram. Birmingham* will never scrap the trams; the streets are wide enough for trams and motors, and have a splendid centre at Snow Hill Station, where signs are up at certain barriers withi the name of destination of tram, so that you can tell which division to wait at. Both Birmingham and Bradford (Yorkshire) have a lesson Wellington could easily copy to make it more convenient for passengers and save time. At these tram centres the passengers have to line up between rails* all leaving the tram do so at the driver's entrance, and all getting on the tram do so from the conductor's end, so there is no waiting. Besides Northampton, Wolverhampton is the only other town in England that has trolley-buses, and there again it is because of the old narrow streets that allow only two streams of traffic. All London's trams are doubledeckers, and carry an enormous number, and there could never be enough buses to take such crowds; they would be too much in the way. As in Sydney, there are safety zones for tram passengers, and motors do not have to wait for trams. —I am, etc.,

NO AXE TO GRIND.