APPEAL UPHELD

Otago Daily Times, Issue 27060, 20 April 1949, Page 6

APPEAL UPHELD

PASSENGER BUS SERVICE NO REPLACEMENT OF TRAIN PA AUCKLAND, Apl. 19. An appeal by Edwards Motors, Ltd., against the decision of the No. -1 Transport Licensing Authority which granted the Railways Department a new continuous passenger service licence between Auckland, and Rotorua, has been upheld by Judge Archer, the transport appeal authority, in a reserved judgment. The Railways Department proposed to eliminate two Auckland to Rotorua passenger trains which were running at a loss, and sought a new licence for a through passenger bus service on the route followed by the railway, said Judge Archer. This was substantially the same route as that served by the appellant company If it were possible to restrict the proposed service to passengers who would otherwise use the present .train services there would be insufficient passengers to render the department’s new service worth while. He was not prepared to agree with the No 1 Licensing Authority that the department was entitled to a licence as it involved merely a change in mode of transport, and because the appellants service was not a through service Passengers at present carried by train could be accommodated either by the department’s existing service or by Edwards Motors. There was therefore no justification for an additional service by the department.