Double – Decker Buses – New Area Service

January 1951

South Yorkshire Times, January 13, 1951

Double – Decker Buses

Mexborough Area Service

Double decker buses in High Street, Mexboro’, hitherto never seen there on Service, will soon be an everyday sight. From January 20th the Yorkshire Traction Company are introducing this type of bus on their Barnsley – Doncaster (via Swinton) service and on the Kilnhurst – Doncaster service.

Special Types

Mr N. H. Dean, the Company’s General Manager, told the South Yorkshire Times ” yesterday that special types of double-deckers will be operated at a height of 13ft. five inches, which will permit them to pass under Swinton Bridge.

“These vehicles,” he said, “have a sunk gangway on the top deck, and in some ways are not quite as convenient as the standard type of double decker. However, as they have a seating capacity for 53 passengers as against 32 on a single decker, the advantage is apparent.”

Mr Dean added that the Yorkshire Traction Company started a through service between Barnsley and Doncaster via Wath and Mexborough in 1921. Since that time frequencies of services had been much improved and types of vehicles had also greatly changed. In 1921 vehicles were fitted with solid tyres, wooden seats and the speed limit was 12 m.p.h.

In spite of the big advance in vehicles design, operation in the Mexborough and Wath areas had been handicapped owing to the low bridges at Manvers Main and near Swinton Station. The standard type of double-decker was 14ft. 6in: in height, whereas Manvers Bridge was less than 13ft. in height and Swinton bridge had only a clearance of 14ft. to the overhead trolley wires.

Best Answer

” Compared with the period immediately prior to the war, patronage on buses has increased by roughly 80 per cent., and the operation of double deckers is undoubtedly the best answer to the problem, Mr Dean continued. ‘ With this in mind, the Yorkshire Traction Company are arranging for all through services between Barnsley and Doncaster to proceed via Swinton.

“Residents in the Kilnhurst area will be pleased to know that Route 24 is also to be operated with double deckers, which will give immediate relief to the overloading problems which sometimes arise on this particular route.”

Footnote. — Fuller details of these improved facilities will be found elsewhere in this issue, in an article headed “More and Bigger.”