WAGON SHORTAGE

Dominion, Volume 37, Issue 223, 17 June 1944, Page 8

WAGON SHORTAGE

Railways Department’s Difficulties Fluctuations in demands, weather and manpower difficulties are the chief causes contributing to the present acute shortage of railway wagons. Inquiries made recently show’ the difficulties experienced by the Railways Department, in meeting its own needs as well as its clients. Many of the causes are outside the department’s control. Weather may affect (lie discharge or loading of wagons both at centres and at country stations, and often they are kept at ports through unexpected delays in the arrival of shipping. These factors are responsible at times for as many as 800. wagons being tied up at one port at a time. The centralization of shipping, necessitating long-distance hauls of many essential commodities to main ports, means the loading of goods on trucks long before ships can take them. It is not unusual for 250 wagons to be supplied for the carriage of tallow or wool to a single ship. , Like many other industries, the department has been faced with a labour shortage, aud even if close contact is maintained with the manpower officer, it is not always possible for the department’s needs to be filled. The heavy wagon construction programme authorized before 1039 was not carried out because conditions m Great Britain prevented the materials /or this construction from coming to hand. Now the construction programme is far behind schedule, with little apparent relief in the near future.