“SCRAP THE TRAMS”

Lake Wakatip Mail, Issue 4329, 31 August 1937, Page 7

“SCRAP THE TRAMS”

MANCHESTER POLICY SUBSTITUTION OF BUSES GRADUAL'CONVERSION i Manchester, the fifth largest city in Great Britain, with a population of upwards of three-quarters of a million, is following the example of other large cities and towns and scrapping its tramway system. By a unanimous vote the Manchester Corporation Transport Committee on June 15, reports the 1 Guardian,’ approved of a report prepared by Mr R. Stuart Pilcher (the general manager of the department) recommending * the City Council to authorise the complete abandonment of the tramway system in Manchester, provided that the conversion is undertaken gradually, as and when circumstances permit, and that before each section of the tramways is abandoned the proposed substituted system of transport—either motor buses or trolly-buseg—should be decided upon. In the course of his report Mr Pilcher points out that the present position of the undertaking is that 49 per cent, of the revenue is earned by the motor buses and 51 per cent, by the tramway system. If the present tramway system were to be continued indefinitely it would be necessary, he suggests, to place larger amounts in the reserve fund than are at present available, or resort to borrowing to meet | future renewals of permanent way and j tramway cars. On the other hand, if i it were the declared policy of the committee to abandon the tramways as and ' when the track was to a substantia! I extent worn out, it would be unnecessary to build up a large renewals fund. In the case of the bus system an additional provision to the sinking fund is made, reducing the loan period from years to 6| years, and the same principle will be applied to the trollybus system. SMALL TRAMWAY SURPLUS. The total amount in the reserve fund (£238,268) is similar to that of four years ago, and this position, it is pointed out, is only being maintained by the additional provision made for buses and the surplus from the bus undertaking. In the last financial year the surplus on the tramway undertaking was only £6,064, and there has been spent on tramway renewals £50,531. In the present financial year the surplus is estimated at only £8,200, and it will be necessary to spend £49,000, so that the tramway undertaking is not earning sufficient to pay for immediate renewals. If the existing system is to be continued £113,000 per annum will have to be provided for the renewal of the permanent way. Moreover, the cost of improvements to tramcars and replacements is estimated at £353,050. On the other hand, the surplus from the bus system for the year 1935-36 was £79,437. and for the year just ended £84,411. The increases in revenue, moreover, which have resulted from the conversion of tramway services to bus services, have invariably been earned when the tramway revenue was falling. Some of the contributory

causes, Mr Pilcher suggests, may be the increased schedule speed of the bus against that of the tram and the fact that passengers can board and alight at the kerb. Apart, however, from the question of the higher revenue earned by motor buses, the operating costs are considerably less, so that a more profitable result can be obtained with a more frequent service at a higher speed. THE SCRAPPING POLICY. After pointing out that the outstanding debt on loans for tramway purposes other than buildings and outlay available for the new system amounts to £1,177,150 out of a total capital outlay of £3,085,162, Mr Pilcher deals with the question of how, in view of such a substantial debt, the tramway system can be scrapped. The answer to the’ question, he states, is that 38 per cent, of the tramway system has already been or is sanctioned to be abandoned with an improved financial position. “ The same policy,” he goes on, “ can be continued. The cost of new garages is, of course, charged direct to the bus undertaking. The tramway system only bears the capital cost of that portion of the car sheds occupied by the trams on an area basis, and as the buses or trolly vehicles occupy premises the **charges are automatically taken over by the new system and the tramways system relieved of its charges. In the same way the cost of the workshops at Hyde road is apportioned between trams and buses on the basis of the annual production. As each route is abandoned the annual charges in respect of the debt for permanent way, overhead equipment, and tramcars are transferred to the appropriation account and are paid out of the profits of the trams and buses, so that the tramway system is automatically relieved of its burdens as the changes are made. DEBT REDEMPTION. “ The outstanding debt is being redeemed at the rate of approximately £IOO,OOO per annum. During the last seven years—the period of conversions —the loan debt on the tramway undertaking has been reduced by £624,470, and no substantial new capital has been added. During the next seven years the decrease is estimated to be £587,800. I do not think that the outstanding debt constitutes a serious difficulty. The respective forms of transport will require to meet this obligation, and it is much easier to do this with a profitable bus undertaking than with a tramway system which isninable to meet its present liabilities.” Mr Pilcher closes his report with a reference to the advantages of tramway abandonment from the point of view of traffic congestion and to the rapid rate at which tramways are being superseded not only throughout this country, but in France, Germany, Italy, and the United States of America. “ I am of opinion.” he concludes, “ that a strong case is made out for continuing the policy of tramway abandonment. I do not suggest that the remainder of the tramway system should be abandoned at once; that is hardly practicable, but it would be an advantage for the department to have

the future policy defined, whether the committee intend r to continue the abandonment as and when the circumstances warrant it. If such a policy were adopted it \ puld enable the department to visualise the future more clearly and (a) to know what reserve funds should be provided; (b) what expenditure should be incurred on new and existing tramcars; (c) what moneys should be spent on permanent way (£30,000 is being spent annually at present) ; and (d) to plan where additional garages will be required in the future. “ If the policy of tramway abandonment is decided upon the question of what form of transport should supersede it, either motor buses or trolley vehicles, could be decided as and when the abandonment of each route is under consideration.” The transport department of the corporation, during the year ended March 31, made a net profit of £90,475 —less by nearly £15,400 than the profit of the previous year The annual report shows that about £1,300 more than last year, a sum of £37,732, goes to the appropriation account, mainly for interest and debt redemption, and the balance, £52,743, is transferred to renewals account. The reduction of profit was caused by reduction of the number of passengers carried on the trams. The profit on buses was increased by £5,000, to £84,411, but this increase was more than absorbed by the £20,000 fall in the profit on the trams. The report states that of the £30,998 fall in tramway receipts (to £1,162,000) about'£s,ooo was caused by conversion of routes to buses, but more than £25,000 was on routes not converted. The number of passengers fell by 4,352,000, 2.2 per cent, of the total. The number of passengers carried on the buses increased by 10,647,000, or 7.6 per cent., and the receipts by £74,000, or 7 per cent. The routes on which the department now runs buses have a total length of 269 miles, of which 116 are outside Manchester. The total cost of running buses has been reduced during the year by nearly a tenth of a penny per mile. It is now 13.323 d, and since 1933 the reduction is nearly Id. A similar steady reduction in expenses has been going on on the trams, but the cost per mile for these is still 15.727 d. The reduc- i tion of cost for the trams during the year is even greater than for the buses —about 0.15 d per mile. The trams have not had to bear any capital expenditure during the year, but the total indebtedness of the tramway undertaking has been reduced by £104,000. The department paid during the year £191,500 in rates and taxes —8 per cent, of its income, and a cost per vehicle per mile of 1.24 d. Only £41,000 goes in rates, £105,000 is for duties on petrol and oil and about £45,000 in licenses. The department has paid £26,640 during the year in increases ot wages. The increases granted will cost in a full year £38,150.