Unpunctual Trains

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 801, 23 October 1929, Page 8

Unpunctual Trains

Chief Causes of Rail Delays

NEW ZEALAND trains are running farther behind schedule —though not much—than they used to. Delays are due to a multiplicity of causes, from the. weather to animals on the line, frequently causing heavy material damage, but seldom accompanied by loss of life. Suburban trains, because of their mobility, are the closest to punctuality, but expresses maintain a steady degree of late arrivals.

Nearly 200 trains come and go at Auckland every day, and each has its appointed hour of arrival and departure. If it reaches any station a little early, it must not leave early, lest the passengers are left standing, so that the enginedrivei' cannot hold any reserve time in hand for expenditure on the difficult grades o£ the Main Trunk, nor in case of a minor mishap on the journey. In that light alone, it is perhaps surprising that the North-bound Limited express puffs into the Auckland station every morning at the end of its 426-mile journey usually on time, or at the most a few minutes out.

In the case of a major mishap along the line, of course, delay is inevitable, but so great is the reserve speed of the Limited express that on occasions an hour’s delay at Frankton has been reduced to 20 minutes by the time Auckland was reached. The Limited is in fact the most punctual on the line among the passenger trains.

On the other hand, there is seldom excuse—beyond unforseen mishaps—for unpunctuality in trains. So is the schedule set, and so should it be kept, for it is set according to the requirements of the people in relation to the ’capacity of the system. EXPRESSES DELAYED

it is discovered in a recent statement to Parliament, and debated in the House this week, that last year express and mail trains averaged 6.65 minutes behind their regular time. Over a whole year, and covering all the express trains on the line, this represents a great waste of time. In the previous year the expresses were 6.22 minutes behind programme. Long-distance goods trains are expected to encounter more difficulties than the through express trains, and such is found to be the case in the figures. Just under seven and ahalf minutes late on the average, this class of train also declined in punctuality during last year. Suburban services, which are always developed to a high state of efficiency, mainly on account of their greater mobility than the longdistance passengers trains, run very

closely to schedule, and last year were but 1.17 minutes late on the average run. Much of this delay was attributable to the severe washouts on the Hutt line, near Wellington, where the collapse of the sea wall affected the Wairarapa and outer suburban services on that line. The weather, too, has a marked influence upon the punctuality of trains, insofar as seasonal fluctuation in stock-raising causes short rush periods instead of producing a steady stream of goods traffic. This fact, combined with the inconvenience of the single line used on all the long-distance runs in this country, creates delays at stations which become far-reaching in their effect by the time the train has reached its journey’s end. PULSE OF TRAIN CONTROL The dislocation of one train at a wayside station throws the whole elaborate system of crossings out, and expedient rearrangement has to be made according to the immediate circumstances. The result of this is that goods trains, and often passenger trains as well, are held for half an hour or more awaiting suitable crossings. In Wellington a wonderfully intricate method of train control operates. The officer sits in a little oflice at Lambton station, and figuratively holds in the palm of his hand every train on the line between Wellington and Palmerston North. Stations communicate with him, and as they notify the positions of certain trains, the officer checks them on a huge chart before him, and directs the stations whether to send them on or retain them for crossings. In this way the control officer can tell at any moment the exact position of any train. In the holiday season a certain amount of delay in train-running is almost inevitable, as the figures for the Christmas and Easter vacations will show. Floods, too, play their part, while hot wheelboxes and mechanical difficulties share the responsibility for the public delay. Actual train accidents injured 10 passengers and five employees last year, and general railway accidents killed 52 people and injured 1,662. L.J.C.