SUBURBAN TRAMS

Dominion, Volume 8, Issue 2370, 28 January 1915, Page 6

SUBURBAN TRAMS

RECENT COMPLAINTS

THE SHORTAGE OF CARS

Within the past day or two complaints been made by correspondents, whose letters have been published in The Dominion, about the Seatoan tramway service. Tiio case for the Department was stated to a Dominion reporter -by a responsibuo officer of the Tramway Department yesterday. "Tiie substance of the two letters," he saidj "was that the service is inadequate. This service is paid for by the Miramar Borough, and on, all these suburban lines where there is dual control this question has to be decided by the borough. Are we going to have the best service that our people are likely to desire, or aro we going to have simply as good a service as we can get for the money we are prepared to pay? Usually a borough can afford to pay only a limited sum, for which it is impossible to give a very frequent service. If we were prepared to give a very much better service'to Soatoun, the borough might not bo prepared to foot tlie bill. I would also point out that up till the present our, chief handicap has been want of cars, the scarcity duo chiefly to the compulsory conversion of our side entranco carr. to comply with the requirements of the 'Davev Clause' in the Tramways Amendment Act ; Now that work is done, and we are beginning to feel our feet. Karori Borough Council have just adopted our, proposals to give them a better service. Until now we have never had the cars to givo Soatoun a better service, and if we were prepared now to give better service there would still remain the question of whether the Borough Council could pay for it. Tf we hasten to give fre-' qnent services over long suburban nine where the loading is light for all except short periods of the day, the. fares are so cheap in Wellington, that instead of the trams earning a small profit as they do now, they would show' a recurring loss. We earn our profits now in the City because 'we get loading both ways at all times of tho day. On the suburban linos we send cars cut in the morning to bring the people in to town, and they run out empty. In. the City it is payable mileage both ways all day; in the suburbs it is payable mileage only one day at certain times of the day.

"We admit that the loading is heavy at those times, and that the cars _ are crowded,, bnt we are doing all that it is possible for us to do. On the last holiday we had' 95 cars in traffic, and every day at rush hours in the evening we have every available car out. As wo pet the new cars now being built we shall be able to keep a spare-car or two nut, standing on that line at CouTtenay Place. When a heavily-loaded car comes along we will then be able to run out one of our spare cars, and so relieve the heavy loading on the long distance cars. . "The complaint about no cars being available to take peoplo out to Seatoun after the theatre is not justified. In actual fact late cars have been put on very frequently when there were performances at the Opera House, and this without any request from the borough. This week we are putting on cars on three nights, and that is quite the usual thing." ;