RAILWAY PROBLEMS

Hokitika Guardian, 9 October 1928, Page 7

RAILWAY PROBLEMS

“ UE VELGPMENTAL LINES.” now THEY DEVELOP. pi. a .spa) or.) - it js utiij ,i in.i,b .jr ui time—and it , a a,jl ou uihLciin. — u uun uic railway » m; ii i uiiL.i/iMu uuuei mixing. ' bo ,i„iU oir tjuiui jjuko wile ii discussing .i.o uov ei nincnL s construction proposals m tue nouse ol Representatives .ins week. ••Exception has been taken lo tiie deviation works,” tins clieer.y

optimist continued, alter an appropriate pause; " put lor ail answer one mis only to relcr to tlie Palmerston and ’.I awa flat deviations. Wot only will these works meet all the charges of interest but they also, will be a big factor in increasing the whole of the railway revenue.” Everyone would be glad to see Sir John’s confident prophecies fulfilled ; hut at the moment they appear Ur bo too good to be true. The railway statement (for the year, indeed, tells but a sorry story. The nominal loss on the railways for the twelve months amounted to £291,452 and to this substantial amount has to be added the loss of £489,567 on unpayable branch lines—euphemistically styled “developmental lines”—bringing the total deficiency up to £781,019, a sum more than sufficient to pay annual .interest at the rate of 5 per rent on fifteen millions sterling.

COSTLY BRANCHES. For the time being it may be more interesting to look into the position of these “ developmental lines ”, than it would be to speculate concerning the future of the Palmerston and the Tawa Flat deviations. There are twentynine of them mentioned in the Railway Statement and no doubt all of them at the time of their construction were lauded as sure “to meet all the charges of construction ”• and “be big (factors in increasing the whole of the railway revenue.” Needless to say, the present Government is in no way responsible for their existence. It must share the blame with many preceding Governments, however, for wasting thousands a . year upon scraps of line that cannot fairly be described as “developmental” or even “essential. The Grey town, tne Foulwind the Glenham, the Orawia and the Waiuku lines are instances in point. The Greytown line is three miles in length. Last year its revenue was £IS9 per mile ; its working expenses and interest, £1297 per mile, and its total loss £llOB per mile. The Foulwind line was run at a loss of £709 per mile for the year; the Glenham line at a loss of £728 per mile; the Orawia line at a loss of £783 per mile and the Waiuku line at a loss off £973 per mile. The aggregate loss on these five linos amounted to £36, 504 during the year.

HOW THEY OPERATE. These figures represent the actual losses incurred taken on these lines, the somewhat mythical “feeder value” not being taken into account, since it is obvious that if these lines were scrapped tho railways still would, receive the feeder value at the point at which the main lines and the branch lines now connect. The (treytown line partakes somewhat of the comic opera order, without the music. There are five trains run over the line each working day, backwards and forwards, making altogether ten trips. During last year these trains carried 3566 passengers, 14662 head bf cattle and 5489 tons of goods. This is to say that on 313 working days an average of eleven passengers per day, forty-six head of stock and eighteen tons of goods were carried. As there were ten trips each day it is easy to calculate that they averaged per trip one and one-tenth passengers, four and six-tenths head of stock and one and eight-tenth ton of goods. Is if any wonder that £3OOO a year is lost upon this line alone r Nine-tenths of the stock and goods Ira flic between (Ireylowu and the trunk line proceeds hy way of the macadamised road and not a single additional motor car would lie required to carry those eleven passengers a day.

A MINISTER'S VIEWS. Towards the conclusion of last year's session of Parliament the -Minister of Finance, as well as the Prime Minister himself, made several thoughtful alius-

ions to the increasing difficulties of the transport problem. The Hon. W, D. Stewart in one of his later speeches laid particular stress upon the importance of the subject. “So long as money for railway development is called for” the published summary of liis remarks ran; “then it was imperative that. money must be borrowed H^p admitted that the question whether o not railways were a wise method of expenditure was a problem that was becoming increasingly open to criticism, because indication in New Zealand, Australia, England and elsewhere seemed to show that it was questionable whether railways were not going to lie out of date as a method of transport He agreed that the lurther tile railways .were extended the more they increased the burden df the taxpayer From an economic point of view it would he better in the case of some railway lines to close them down and pay interest on their construction rather than pay heavy operating costs,” Unfortunately in this, respect, this is election year and no Government could he expected at such a, season to talk of closing down developmental lines” or of demanding economic results from other lines; but it is to be hoped that when the Prime Minister and the Minister of Finance return from the constituencies they will find it in their hearts to apply themselves strenuously to the solution of these grave problems.