no midnight trams in aberdeen

Councillor Watson's dream of Aberdeen's tramcars running till midnight every Saturday and Sunday must remain a dream - for the present at least. The Transport Committee yesterday refused to sanction cars till midnight, but recommended that any extension granted should be confined to Sundays, from May to September, subject to traffic requirements and extending probably to about 11 p.m. If the Town Council approve the committee's recommendation, then Councillor Watson will have gained a point, in the form of nearly an extra hour on Sundays. In connection with the remit from the Council, Mr Alfred Smith, transport manager, submitted an interesting report, which the committee approved. He gave details of the present services, and the result of an analysis of the traffic on a half-hourly basis. 

Reorganised Timetables That analysis showed that during the half-hour prior to the running off of the services, there was a considerable diminution in the volume of the traffic carried when compared with the preceding half-hour. "I am, accordingly, of the opinion," reported Mr Smith, "that there is no demand likely to justify a extension of the times on all routes to midnight, but I would suggest that I be instructed to reorganise the timetables to permit of a later car to Woodend, and possibly to Bridge of Dee and Bridge of Don." The "last cars" in Edinburgh - this being given for comparison - leave the centre of the city between 11.8 p.m. and 11.40 p.m.; in Dundee at 11.30 p.m., and in Glasgow at midnight, with an hourly service from 12.30 a.m. till 3.30 a.m. 

Sunday Services With regard to the Sunday services, Mr Smith again gave details, and the result of a half-hourly analysis. In this case the position was the opposite of the Saturday one, a considerable increase being shown in the volume of traffic carried on all routes during the last half-hour compared with the preceding half-hour of service. The increases varied from 21 per cent. to 63 per cent., the former on the Bridges route and the latter on the Rosemount Circle. Founding upon the results of his investigations, the transport manager expressed the opinion that any extension granted should be confined to the period from May to September, and made conditional to traffic requirements, and should probably extend to approximately 11 p.m. from the centre of the city on each route. The committee, over which Baillie MacDiarmid, in the absence of Councillor Mitchell, convener, presided, approved of the report. The "last cars" on Sunday in Glasgow leave at 11 p.m., in Edinburgh between 10.38 and 11.20 p.m., and in Dundee 11.15 p.m. Aberdeen at present is therefore not so well supplied with late Sunday cars as the three other Scottish cities. 

Buses to Links A matter of interest to travellers on the Corporation buses that came before the committee was Councillor Brechin's remit that a more frequent service be run on the Golf Road and Broomhill route. In this case again the transport manager had forward a report on the matter, with an analysis of the results given by the service. He showed that from June 1 to December 28, 1935, the service made a profit of £753. On December 29, 1935, the service was augmented to its present state, and during the period since the increase, up to May 12 this year, there has been a loss of £93. A census of the passengers carried between Castle Street and the Links on Saturday, with a five minutes' service, compared with ten minutes' service on a Monday, showed that the potential traffic to be obtained from a 100 per cent. increased frequency of service was likely to be 42 per cent. more than that carried with the present ten minutes' headway. 

Increased Frequency Mr Smith added that he assumed that the remit referred to an increase in the service of the route between Castle Street and the Links to bring it into line with the Broomhill-Castle Street section and he was the opinion that although the increase was not likely to be remunerative for some time to come, the suggestion should be favourably considered by the committee. If the service was agreed to, the residents in the Links area would have a five-minutes service between, approximately, 7.30 a.m. and 9a.m.; 11.52 a.m. and 2.15 p.m.; and 4.32 p.m. and 7.25 p.m., which would entail an additional vehicle to maintain the increased frequency. The committee agreed and made their recommendation to the Town Council accordingly.

Source : Aberdeen Press and Journal Wednesday May 27th, 1936