THE RAILWAYS.

Hokitika Guardian, 1 February 1922, Page 3

THE RAILWAYS.

(Lyttelton Times). It seems to be accepted as a sort of axiom by the Minister of Railways—or the acting Minister, for the real head of the concern seems difficult to locate —that the only remedy for a decreasing revenue occasioned by prohibitive fares and reduced services is to make ‘ the fares higher and the services fewer. The London County Council, which. runs a very large tramway service lias t been up against a diminution of ■ revenue occasioned by increased fares, | and its general manager has come to ‘ the conclusion that the only way to i improve revenue is to reduce fares, j The Highways Committee of the Coun- I cil, in a recent report, says:—“The general manager has informed us that, if the proposed reductions of fares arc' made, while a lower scale of Ordinary I lares will cause an immediate increase of passengers, there will nevertheless be a temporary fall in receipts, but 1 that the revenue will at least recover

to the present level by the end of the year.”

The alternative presented to the London County Council was a steady decrease in revenue owing to the inability of the people to pay tile increased fares. Of course the L.O.tJ. tramways have to meet competition from sucli organisations as the London Omnibus Company, and they are therefore not in quite so independent a position as the New Zealand railways; But in this country we have got to the stage where the costliness and inefficiency of railway transport is bringing competition into existence. Motor transport as a commercial means of conveying passengers and goods is iii its infancy in this country, hut it already threatens to attain a healthy adolesence in a year or two owing to tlie magnificent opportunities which a hide-bound and mis-managed railway service is throwing in its way. While on the subject of railways it may be of some pertinence to quote the reply of tlie Acting-Minister of

Railways to a suggestion that he should sell the rights of publishing the monthly editions of the railway timetable to some enterprising advertising firm. Ho said;—“l am not aware that any offer worth consideration has tieen made for the purchase of the rights to issue a time-table with advertisements. Past experience in that connection did not have satisfactory results, and the Department therefore found it necessary to terminate the contract and issue tho time-table itself. If any firm with tlie necessary financial backing will put up a straiglitout business proposal, the Department will give it consideration ; lint at the same time it will require proper guarantees that the time-table will he issued with regularity, that the information it contains will he accurate, and the financial liability ho met oil duo dates.” There are two comments to ho made on this statement, The first is that State railway monopoly must be in a very bad way if its time-table is not worth a substantial sum for advertising purposes. Tlie second is that the insistence of tlie Minister that advertising contractors should “meet their liabilities oil due date” is in striking contrast with tho sort of returns lie is getting from tlie railways themselves. It is now nearly two years since the railways even paid interest on tlie cost of their construction.