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50-510: Horse-driven mail coach and public transport services were frequently combined prior to the advent of motorized transport. The travel writer Anthony Lambert describes the concept in Switzerland, "the Swiss postbus system ... evolved from the 19th century mail coach service..." and further that "the Swiss believe ... that the only sensible way to organise public transport services is to achieve

100-591: A bus service carrying both mail and passengers in Finnish Lapland from Rovaniemi to Sodankylä and soon all the way to Ivalo in the very northern part of the country. The same year, another postbus route was started in southwestern Finland between Turku and Mynämäki and in 1922 a third service began between the northern city Oulu and Taivalkoski . By 1939 there were over 60 postbus routes around Finland. In addition to that, many private bus companies also carried mail on their buses. The busiest year for

150-773: A countrywide mail delivery service, so in 1782, he suggested to the Post Office in London that they take up the idea. He met resistance from officials who believed that the existing system could not be improved, but eventually the Chancellor of the Exchequer , William Pitt , allowed him to carry out an experimental run between Bristol and London. Under the old system the journey had taken up to 38 hours. The coach, funded by Palmer, left Bristol at 4 pm on 2 August 1784 and arrived in London just 16 hours later. Impressed by

200-709: A day but in some areas the only form of public transport available. Key areas included the Yorkshire Dales and South West Scotland. In April 2009 the Royal Mail ended its postbus services in much of the Scottish Highlands and Islands region. Five "unprofitable" routes were cancelled. The move proved very unpopular with campaigners. Discussions between the Highland Council and Royal Mail broke down. The services were subsequently replaced by

250-558: A further passenger was allowed outside, sitting at the front next to the driver, and eventually a second row of seating was added behind him to allow two further passengers to sit outside. Travel could be uncomfortable as the coaches travelled on poor roads and passengers were obliged to dismount from the carriage when going up steep hills to spare the horses (as Charles Dickens describes at the beginning of A Tale of Two Cities ). The coaches averaged 7 to 8 mph (11–13 km/h) in summer and about 5 mph (8 km/h) in winter but by

300-484: A green livery when An Post became a state-owned postal service provider instead of being an Irish government department. Passengers were accommodated on a first come first served basis in the small bus and paid an average fee of £5. Soon after its introduction tourists discovered the postbus that took them through the breath-taking County Clare scenery to visit The Burren and the Cliffs of Moher . The postbus service

350-431: A mile more expensive than by private stage coach, but the coach was faster and, in general, less crowded and cleaner. Crowding was a common problem with private stage coaches, which led to their overturning; the limits on numbers of passengers and luggage prevented this occurring on the mail coaches. Travel on the mail coach was nearly always at night; as the roads were less busy the coach could make better speed. The guard

400-439: A monopoly on the supply of coaches, and a virtual monopoly on their upkeep and servicing. The mail coaches continued unchallenged until the 1830s but the development of railways spelt the end for the service. The first rail delivery between Liverpool and Manchester took place on 11 November 1830. By the early 1840s other rail lines had been constructed and many London-based mail coaches were starting to be withdrawn from service;

450-653: A postbus system for passenger and freight operation, run by the Reichspost authority and its post-war Bundespost successor, existed until May 1985. It was formerly known as Kraftpost , from 1965 as Postreisedienst . A first postbus route was set up on 1 June 1905 connecting Bad Tölz and Lenggries in Bavaria . The first Reichspost line ran from 16 June 1906 between Friedberg and Ranstadt in Hesse . Soon after it operated numerous bus routes. With mailboxes on board,

500-470: A service operated by the Stagecoach Group . In August 2017 Royal Mail ran its last Tongue to Lairg postbus. Mail coach A mail coach is a stagecoach that is used to deliver mail . In Great Britain, Ireland, and Australia, they were built to a General Post Office -approved design operated by an independent contractor to carry long-distance mail for the Post Office. Mail

550-534: A substantial liberalization of the German intercity bus market, Deutsche Post created a Deutsche Post Mobility subsidiary. Initially run in cooperation with the ADAC automobile club it was first branded ADAC Postbus . It connected several large cities nationally and internationally. Deutsche Post DHL Group sold its long-distance bus unit, Postbus, to the German market leader Flixbus on 3 August 2016. In July 1982,

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600-490: Is an association of local bus companies called Bussgods which works as a courier for bulkier goods between bus stops and/or terminals . Unlike the British postbuses these vehicles are built on full-size coaches chassis with a box body and a tail lift in the rear end to accommodate heavier goods and even pallets sent along with the mail. This unusual truck/bus combination is nicknamed " Skvader ". In Switzerland ,

650-492: Is probably the same as Reid in the western part of Mühlfeld . Hainricus de Tolnze built a castle on the site, which controlled the river and road traffic in the region but which no longer exists. In 1331, Louis IV made Tölz a market town . The 14th century saw Tölz become a crossroads for the salt and lumber traffic on the Isar . In 1453, the market street, church, and castle were destroyed by fire. Duke Albrecht III enabled

700-559: The Minister for Posts and Telegraphs , John Wilson , initiated a postbus service in County Clare , one of the most scenic areas of Ireland . Ennis post office was the start of the 68-mile route around the county. It ran twice on weekdays at 7 a.m. and 3 p.m. carrying mail and passengers to towns like Kilfenora and Lisdoonvarna with the postman-cum-driver. The bus was originally in an orange and black livery but in 1984 changed to

750-808: The Nazi concentration camp in Płaszów , in German-occupied Poland during World War II , was arrested and sent for trial in Poland. Today, Bad Tölz is known for its spas , historic medieval town, and its views of the Alps . On the western bank of the Isar River lies the Kurverwaltung, or modern spa , whose iodine -rich waters are known for their soothing and healing powers. A major attraction

800-593: The Czech ČSAD Autobusy company in České Budějovice acquired in 2004. The first postbus lines in Bohemia started in the days of Austria-Hungary , in 1908. The first lines were Pardubice – Bohdaneč (11 km, 64 minutes) and Pardubice – Holice , other lines came later. In 1914, bus transport in Bohemia, Moravia and Slovakia consisted of 23 lines in all, at which operated 33 postbuses and 13 private buses. During

850-567: The Finnish Postbus network was 1971, with 222 bus lines around the country run by more than 420 buses famous for their bright orange colour. Then the posts authority decided to concentrate postal transports on trucks, and the postbus services started to decline. In 1999, the remaining postbus lines and vehicles, now organised under a separate company Gold Line Oy, were sold to a private bus company, Koiviston Auto Oy. Gold Line remains Koivisto's subsidiary operating from Rovaniemi. In Germany,

900-663: The World War I, bus transport was interrupted, vehicles were requisitioned by the army and rebuild to trucks. Since 1918, postbus transport continued in Czechoslovakia . The post transport had its main base place at Citadela, a former army depot in Vyšehrad , Prague, and in 1926 it had 216 buses in the whole Czechoslovakia. In 1927, the Citadela base with many equipment and material was burned by fire. The second main base place

950-585: The buses contributed greatly to open up rural areas in the 1920s and 30s in addition to the Reichsbahn railway lines. While rail was quicker and more convenient, the buses were a low-cost alternative. After World War II , post bus service was resumed by the Bundespost authority in West Germany , running more than 4,000 vehicles in the mid-1950s. Later years saw a significant decline in demand, with

1000-585: The city to rebuild, but this time in stone. He also built a palace which stood until 1770, when it fell into disrepair and was eventually undermined by the Ellbach . The Thirty Years' War (1618–1648) brought plague and destruction to the region. During the War of the Spanish Succession things began to turn around again, with trade in lime and wood products, among other items. During this war, in 1705,

1050-540: The coach only stopped for collection and delivery of mail and never for the comfort of the passengers. To avoid a steep fine turnpike gates had to be open by the time the mail coach with its right of free passage passed through. The gatekeeper was warned by the sound of the posthorn. Mail coaches were slowly phased out during the 1840s and 1850s, their role eventually replaced by trains as the railway network expanded. The postal delivery service in Britain had existed in

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1100-624: The conversion of Swiss PostBus Ltd into an independent subsidiary of the Swiss Post . The company operates 869 bus lines with 2,193 buses in Switzerland, transporting over 140 million passengers annually on its 11,869 km long network. In the United Kingdom postbus services by Royal Mail began in 1967 to replace rapidly declining local bus and rail services in rural areas and provide a community service. In 2006 more than 200 services were operated by Royal Mail, often only once or twice

1150-492: The course of the privatisation of the Österreichische Post , the Österreichische Industrieholding sold the postbus branch to the Austrian Federal Railways (ÖBB) group in 2003. Today the ÖBB-Postbus GmbH is the country's largest bus company serving regional and interurban traffic with about 4000 employees and 2100 buses. The corporation also comprises the ÖBB's former railway bus service (KÖB) as well as

1200-399: The final service from London (to Norwich) was shut down in 1846. Regional mail coaches continued into the 1850s, but these too were eventually replaced by rail services. The mail coaches were originally designed for a driver, seated outside, and up to four passengers inside. The guard (the only Post Office employee on the coach) travelled on the outside at the rear next to the mail box. Later

1250-593: The healing properties of these springs and became a cure and spa town . In 1899, it became known as Bad Tölz. In 1937, SS-Junker School Bad Tölz (an SS officer candidate training camp) was established near the town. The school operated until the end of World War II in 1945. A subcamp of the Dachau concentration camp was located in the town. It provided labour for the school and the Zentralbauleitung (Central Administration Building). Bad Tölz would also be

1300-695: The increasing prosperity of society in the Wirtschaftswunder period and the growing use of the automobile for private transport . Many lines were abolished in the 1970s and 1980s. In 1971, the Bundespost agreed to build up a joint venture cooperation with the Bundesbahn rail bus network and from 1981, the service was split into regional transport companies under the umbrella of the Bundesbahn authority, running bus lines in major cities and metropolitan areas associated with each other. By 1995,

1350-600: The last town to be "passed through" by the Holocaust death march from Dachau to the Austrian border, that would be halted by Nisei U.S. Army artillery soldiers on 2 May 1945, just two kilometers short of the next village to the east of it, Waakirchen . The former SS-Junker school was the base of the U.S. Army's 1st Battalion, 10th Special Forces Group until 1991. It was in Bad Tölz that Amon Göth , commandant of

1400-748: The later decades of the 19th century, operating over thousands of miles of eastern Australia. In 1870s Cobb & Co's Royal Mail coaches were operating some 6000 horses per day, and travelling 28,000 miles weekly carrying mail, gold, and general parcels. Some Concord stagecoaches were imported from the United States made in New Hampshire by the Abbot-Downing Company . This design was a 'thorough-brace' or 'jack' style coach characterised by an elegant curved lightweight body suspended on two large leather straps, which helped to isolate

1450-666: The mail coach met the trains and carried the mail to more remote towns and villages. In 1863 contracts were awarded to the coaching company Cobb & Co to transport Royal Mail services within New South Wales and Victoria . These contracts and later others in Queensland continued until 1924 when the last service operated in western Queensland. The lucrative mail contracts helped Cobb & Co grow and become an efficient and vast network of coach services in eastern Australia. Royal Mail coach services reached their peak in

1500-538: The maximum integration between modes." The service became used widely in Europe by the 1960s, though in recent years there has been a progressive separation of services in some countries. In Austria , the postbus system is known as Postbus . From 1907 onwards power-driven vehicles were operated by the Imperial-Royal Post- und Telegraphenverwaltung , gradually replacing the former stagecoach service. In

1550-455: The mid-19th century, most of the mail coaches in Ireland were eventually out-competed by Charles Bianconi 's country-wide network of open carriages, before this system in turn succumbed to the railways. Australia's first mail coach was established in 1828 and was crucial in connecting the remote settlements being established to the larger centres. The first mail contracts were issued and mail

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1600-597: The newly established Bundespost successor, the privatized Deutsche Post stock company, had retired completely from bus service and the yellow vehicles disappeared from public roads. However, there are foreign postbuses in Germany with international scheduled services (e.g. from Austria in the Berchtesgadener Land area and in Oberstdorf ; from Switzerland in southern Baden-Württemberg ). In 2013, after

1650-585: The north, Kilkenny to the south and Athlone to the west as early as 1737 and for a short period from 1740, a Dublin to Belfast stage coach existed. In winter, this last route took three days, with overnight stops at Drogheda and Newry ; in summer, travel time was reduced to two days. In 1789, mail coaches began a scheduled service from Dublin to Belfast. They met the mail boats coming from Portpatrick in Scotland at Donaghadee , in County Down . By

1700-601: The passengers and driver from the jolts and bumps of the rough unmade country roads. Soon Australian coach builders using many of the Concord design features customised the design for Australian conditions. Bad T%C3%B6lz Bad Tölz ( German: [baːt ˈtœlt͡s] ; Bavarian : Däiz ) is a town in Bavaria , Germany and the administrative center of the Bad Tölz-Wolfratshausen district. Archaeology has shown continuous occupation of

1750-549: The postbus system is known as Postauto in German, Car postal in French and Autopostale in Italian. Although the combination of mail and passenger transportation had been self-evident in the past, the needs of each diverged towards the end of the twentieth century, when the conveyance of parcels was progressively separated from public transportation. This was also so on private bus and rail lines. This division became official with

1800-503: The same form for about 150 years – from its introduction in 1635, mounted carriers had ridden between "posts" where the postmaster would remove the letters for the local area before handing the remaining letters and any additions to the next rider. The riders were frequent targets for robbers, and the system was inefficient. John Palmer , a theatre owner from Bath , believed that the coach service he had previously run for transporting actors and materials between theatres could be used for

1850-448: The schedule was met, the latter to alert the post house to the imminent arrival of the coach and warn tollgate keepers to open the gate (mail coaches were exempt from stopping and paying tolls: a fine was payable if the coach was forced to stop). Since the coaches had right of way on the roads the horn was also used to advise other road users of their approach. A twice-weekly stage coach service operated between Dublin and Drogheda to

1900-554: The site of Bad Tölz since the retreat of the glaciers at the end of the Ice Age . For example, there are finds from the Hallstatt culture as well as from Roman Raetia , or at least occupation by romanized Celts . The name " Tölz " (as "Tolnze") appears relatively late in documentation at the end of the 12th century. The name "Reginried" appears as that of a settlement belonging to the monastery at Tegernsee in earlier texts, which

1950-411: The time of Queen Victoria the roads had improved enough to allow speeds of up to 10 mph (16 km/h). Fresh horses were supplied every 10 to 15 miles (16–24 km). Stops to collect mail were short and sometimes there would be no stops at all with the guard throwing the mail off the coach and snatching the new deliveries from the postmaster. The cost of travelling by mail coach was about 1 d .

2000-439: The trial run, Pitt authorised the creation of new routes. By the end of 1785 there were services from London to Norwich, Liverpool, Leeds, Dover, Portsmouth, Poole, Exeter, Gloucester, Worcester, Holyhead and Carlisle. A service to Edinburgh was added the next year and Palmer was rewarded by being made Surveyor and Comptroller General of the Post Office. Initially the coach, horses and driver were all supplied by contractors. There

2050-463: The vintner Johann Jäger of Tölz led a band of farmers to battle at Sendling (south of Munich ). The town also became known as a pilgrimage site; every November 6, there is a festival to Saint Leonard of Noblac . In 1718, a chapel was built in his honor on the Calvary hill. In the middle of the 19th century, Tölz changed direction with the discovery of natural springs . The town began to focus on

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2100-520: Was built in Vršovice , Prague (currently Veolia Transport resides there). In 1927 the Czechoslovak state railway company ČSD began its state bus lines but the post lines continued. In 1933–1934 state postbus lines were transferred and merged with railway bus lines into ČSD railway company. In 1921, The Finnish Post and Telegraph Authority (Posti- ja lennätinlaitos, now Itella Corporation) started

2150-594: Was handled by the postal service themselves in their own buses and livery . As Postens Diligenstrafik (lit. the Post's stagecoach traffic) between the years 1923–1991. In 1991 this became a part of the Swebus company. Nowadays it is handled by the local councils’ own public transportation buses by appointment of the postal service. Due to deregulation since the early 1990s, some lines are run as public service obligations by private contractors. In addition to that there

2200-411: Was heavily armed with a blunderbuss and two pistols and dressed in the Post Office livery of maroon and gold. The mail coaches were thus well defended against highwaymen , and accounts of robberies often confuse them with private stage coaches, though robberies did occur. To prevent corruption and ensure good performance, the guards were paid handsomely and supplied with a generous pension. The mail

2250-532: Was held in a box at the rear where the only Royal Mail employee, an armed guard, stood. Passengers were taken at a premium fare. There was seating for four passengers inside and more outside with the driver. The guard's seat could not be shared. This distribution system began in Britain in 1784. In Ireland the same service began in 1789, and in Australia it began in 1828. A mail coach service ran to an exact and demanding schedule. Aside from quick changes of horses

2300-439: Was strong competition for the contracts as they provided a fixed regular income on top of which the companies could charge fares for the passengers. By the beginning of the 19th century the Post Office had their own fleet of coaches with black and maroon livery. The early coaches were poorly built, but in 1787 the Post Office adopted John Besant's improved and patented design, after which Besant, with his partner John Vidler, enjoyed

2350-543: Was terminated in September 2004 and was never extended to other parts of the country. An Post axed the service for economic reason and claimed the bus was too old and beyond repair. Clare council member, Martin Lafferty, accused An Post of allowing the service to deteriorate so they could axe it. In some parts of rural Sweden, especially the sparsely populated northern inland, mail is delivered by bus. Formerly this service

2400-490: Was the Alpamare, Europe's first indoor water park with long water slides , wave pool , a surf wave , and a range of thermal outdoor pools with iodine water, until it closed in 2015. Another major attraction is Stadtpfarrkirche, a church built in 1466, which is an example of German late– Gothic architecture . Bad Tölz sits on the Isar River, 670 metres above sea level. It occupies 30.8 square kilometres. In Bad Tölz,

2450-412: Was their sole charge, meaning that they had to deliver it on foot if a problem arose with the coach and, unlike the driver, they remained with the coach for the whole journey; occasionally guards froze to death from hypothermia in their exposed position outside the coach during the harsh winters (see River Thames frost fairs ). The guard was supplied with a timepiece and a posthorn , the former to ensure

2500-508: Was transported by coach or on horseback from Sydney to the first seven country post offices – Penrith , Parramatta , Liverpool , Windsor , Campbelltown , Newcastle and Bathurst . The Sydney to Melbourne overland packhorse mail service was commenced in 1837. From 1855 the Sydney to Melbourne overland mail coach was supplanted by coastal steamer ship and rail. The rail network became the distributor of mail to larger regional centres there

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