On 3 October 1929, the Elizabethville Echo reported on a scheduled hearing to determine whether a subsidiary of the Pennsylvania Railroad would be allowed to operate busses between Lykens and Harrisburg. Local residents who used the “Valley Accommodation,” a commuter train that ran between Lykens and Harrisburg, feared that if the application were approved, the railroad would remove the “Valley Accomodation” from its schedule and use the existing rails from Lykens to Millersburg for freight only. A bus company based in Williamstown also planned to object to the establishment of the new route because it would encroach on its Muir to Millersburg service.
RAILROAD BUS APPLICATION TO BE HEARD TODAY
The application of the Pennsylvania General Transit Company, which proposes to start a bus line between Harrisburg and Lykens was scheduled to be heard by the Public Service Commission this morning. The company is a subsidiary of the Pennsylvania Railroad Company.
Under present plans, busses would stop at the following points between the two terminals: Dauphin, Clarks Ferry, Halifax, Millersburg, Elizabethville, and Loyalton. It is believed that a number of Upper End residents will be in attendance at the hearing.
It is the belief in this section that if the application is approved, the railroad will remove its train known as the Valley Accommodation, from its schedule. Thus the tracks of the Summit Branch Railroad which extend from Millersburg to Lykens will be used entirely for freight shipment and transportation of coal from the mines. The Accommodation is patronized by a large number of commuters who are employed in Harrisburg.
Bus service is at present supplied by the Williams Valley Transportation Company, operating busses between Muir and Millersburg, as well as a branch line from this place [Elizabethville] to Gratz and Pillow.
A few weeks later, on 31 October 1929, the Public Service Commission issued its refusal to allow the Pennsylvania Railroad’s subsidiary company to establish the Lykens to Harrisburg route.
P. R. R. REFUSED LYKENS BUS LINE
The proposal of the Pennsylvania General Transit Company, subsidiary of the Pennsylvania Railroad, to establish a bus line between Harrisburg and Lykens, met with the refusal of the Public Service Commission to issue a certificate.
Vigorous protests were brought by owners of the Susquehanna Trail Coach Lines and the Williams Valley Transportation Company when application for a certificate was made recently.
The Susquehanna Trail Line operates busses between Harrisburg and Selinsgrove by way of Clarks Ferry and its owner said that another line would not pay between Harrisburg and Clarks Ferry.
The Williams Valley Transportation Company representatives also stated that they operate eight busses daily between Lykens and Millersburg and that the company would run more if patronage warranted.
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