Safety First on Railways

Sun (Auckland), Volume I, Issue 124, 16 August 1927, Page 9

Safety First on Railways

DOMINION’S RECORD MAIN TRUNK TRAVEL WELLINGTON, Monday. ]> AILWAY officials have expressed the opinion that the Main Trunk line is safer now than it has ever been, and that there is less likelihood of an accident over the railways generally than at any time since the inception of New Zealand's train services. This question was raised by apprehension felt by many people toward train travelling as a result of recent slips and derailments, but in justification of the statement that everything is safe and in order, the department points out that during the two and a-half years that the Limited express has been running there is a clean sheet so far as derailments and casualties are concerned. Approximately 1,560 journeys have been made by the Limited express to and from Auckland, and the average time over-all is estimated at 30 miles an hour—a maximum speed of 50 miles an hour being reached in parts—so that it is considered quite proper to discount the fear of those who will not travel on the fast night train. One of the reasons why the Main Trunk line is deemed to be safer than hitherto is because of the gradual consolidation of the liue, which is becoming more manifest every year, and incidentally making the track more secure. It was on account of the consolidation process that was taking place that the Railway Department did not bring in the faster train services earlier than it did. QUESTION OF LUCK Discussing the frequency of accidents recently on different parts of the railways, a SUN man suggested to one official that good luck played an important part in avoiding casualties in several specific instances. With this the official did not agree. On the contrary, he quietly but very firmly attributed the escapes to good management, and watchfulness on the part of those controlling the trains, as well as to the efficacy of automaticsignalling devices, which have been installed by the department over the past year or so, and particularly over the past 12 months. The installation of safety devices at stations, as well as along the suburban lines, had tended to eliminate reliability on human watchfulness, which, after all, was quite fallible, and kept the general system within the safety limit. On the suburban lines automatic signalling had worked wonders in the working of the department, particularly on lines out from Auckland, where serious hold-ups used to occur through only one train being able to occupy a section. Having gone so far, the Railway Department might not be far from that stage where the latest American device of controlling the train itself, as well as the signal, will be intro- | duced. By this method a section, showing a danger light, will automatically stop the train. The extra power and installation cost to fit these would be comparatively regligible where the track is already fitted with the automatic signals.