RAILWAY TRAFFIC REORGANISATION.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LII, Issue 172, 24 August 1909, Page 3

RAILWAY TRAFFIC REORGANISATION.

Bv I'elegranh—Press Association. ' ' Wellington, Last Might. " It appears to me to be unnecessary in many case* to provide a daily goods Bcrvice for all the small wayside sta- • lions in New Zealand," remarked the Hon J. A. Millar, Minister for Kail- , ways, to a New Zealand Times reporter -.esteiduj. "A considerable saving can i>e effected by fixing some of these services at so many days per week. At present goods are consigned to jsinall lla» stations whenever they are received? Perhaps a ton of goods goes out /in a 10-ton truck, which waits four or five days at the small station. Thus our trucks are not earning their full capacity; hut by fixing certain days for delivery of goods at these small stati.ns »v» will not only be able to jMace „ or, ..licks at the disposal of railway users, but we will be able by eliminating the stops, etc., to expedite the run„ii» of mixed trains. Under present conditions, time has to be allowed for <. a stop and possible shunting at each station, with the result tl.*t we have such an undesirable state, of affairs as cxSts on the Auckland to Helensviße line where there are twenty-one stops in thirty mile*. ili " 1 ""' tram UkeS nearly thrc e horns to cover the distance.

By siting apart two or Hire* day* per week for the delivery of goods at the small stations, 1 anticipate that a «*• SdentUe saving *BI 1* effected witaont causin"' inconvenience. 1 am getting a report from each district manager on ihe subject, specifying the nag stat.ons and the number of days necessary to Provide a« servi f ™ J" 6 SSt \s soon a.' this information has Secured, I wll\ commence the new

* • '•"""'lliniater gave an indication of ...„_ -,, prions economies already ef-l iJ ...„ *orking out. An increase of Vl "- 4i'««n in the Railway re- ' tL the four months from April ir; ? i -^"«*«* ""..'r s : f „4 /or an increased **penditureo '*-■• )00 or about 50 per «t»t. of the j^'f ro'vemie. Such a'reault is k the rt^l. + decree satisfactory, a* the period <l„ghe* « ot fl w o r ,t during the Cr 'it *sh Man* Main Trnnk :Sd MaS** Wne, did not come ~to ,the previous yc(.r's figures. _