THE RAILWAYS.

Dominion, Volume 5, Issue 1454, 31 May 1912, Page 6

THE RAILWAYS.

SUBURBAN SERVICES. "OX TliK EVE OF STII.L GREATER CHANGES." 'J'lia figures iiidicuiing tlic results of She operations uf the railways lor tlia year ending March 111, lOil', show that there lias been a substantial increase botn in tiie volume of traltic carried anil tho revenue earned. The Jict earnings arc ci[iia! to a return of X',) Ills, per cent, on the total capital invested in Hie railways open ior l.raliic. Arrangements aro being made for improving the train services in the suburban districts of the main centres of population, namely—Auckland, Wellington, Chrislchiireh, and JJaneilin. improvements in train services on (lie other lines coiinccied with tlio system will lio made from time io time. The Government has also devoted itself to improving old lines, and has re-laid some 1500 miles of main line.'; with heavy rails anil additional sleeper,-;. The whole cost of this betterment which amounts to approximately SO,OOO, lias been charged to working expenses. lirietly put, the Government, by reason of the policy it has followed in the administration of tho New Zealand railways, has been ablo to grant:To tho public—concessions in rales anil charges which amount to over .1,000,000 Additional train services, a largo proportion of which were merely io meet public conveniences 885,000 Increase in the matter of pay to railway staff 870,000 Making a total of 2,755,000 There arc under construction in the railway workshops two self-propelled oil motor-cars, which it is intended to rim experimentally on the existing lilies. A\o have appointed for each island a traffic superintendent, and have this week approved of .£500,000 being spent this year , on railway wagons. As there is a misap- . prehension in some quarters respecting ; the building of rolling-stock used on the , railways, 1 may stale there have been , no importations since 1901. It may bo , stilled that we are on the ove of some , still greater changes. I will not at the j moment say anything beyond this, that 1 the public may depend on having a thor- , oughly up-to-date railway service control- ( led by able men. s Light Railway Lines. j Consideration should bo given to tho 1 question as to whether it would not bo I better to construct light railway lines for i tho opening up and development of any j portions of the Dominion. Light rail- i way lines havo been constructed and 1 used with satisfactory results in Europe, I India, and some of the Australian States, t The question is one of very considerable ( importance, and will be gone into fully < at an early date. Attention has also j been given to tho question of utilising tho ] road motor in sparsely-populated districts ' as teeders to the railway lines, Consid- j (Table investigation has, therefore, been 1 made respecting (lie suitability of the . lienard road trains for such, purposes. 1 The information received indicates that '< trials made in India and elsewhere have not been altogether satisfactory, and in •' the former country the Kenard road train c has been abandoned. The Government is c now prosecuting further inquiries. .