ROAD SERVICES

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 9, Issue 89, 21 June 1946, Page 5

ROAD SERVICES

OPOTIKI TO GISBORNE RAILWAYS TAKING OVER As from Sunday, June 23, the road services between Opotiki and Gisborne now operated by Musgrave’s Services Ltd., will be taken over by the New Zealand Railways Road Service and operated as part of the North Island system of State-con-trolled road lines.

The department will take over the staff, cars and general organisation built up by the proprietors over 21 years, and thus will control' the whole of the passenger business out of Gisborne by surface transport. The only privately-owned service operating from Opotiki is Drake Bros.’ coastal service which connects with the Railways Road Service at Te Araroa.

The Gisborne-Opotiki service operated by Musgrave’s Services Limited, was founded by Mr J. O. Musgrave when he went to Gisborne in 1925 to take over a portion of the Duco owner-driver organisation. Up to that time the Duco company had operated on the northern road as well as between Gisborne and Napier, and the change resulted from their decision to concentrate upon the southern link.

Mr Musgrave had previously been with an Opotiki company running the road link from Opotiki to Rotorua, and linking up with the Duco on the Opotiki-Gisborne side. One of the first operators to recognise the importance of passenger comfort, Mr Musgrave pioneered the use of multi-seated cars on heavy chassis on the northern route, and set a standard which in later years has become almost universal.