ELECTRIC RAILWAYS.

Taranaki Daily News, 25 February 1922, Page 8

ELECTRIC RAILWAYS.

COST OF INSTALLATION. . LIMITATIONS DISCUSSED. POSITION OF DOMINION. Some interesting remarks on the electrification of railways were made at the Conference of Civil Engineers, at Wellington, by Mr. F. W. Mac Lean, chief engineer of the New Zealand Railways. Mr. Mac Lean said there was a very prevalent idea that the electrification of our railways was all that was required to make them a success. Electric traction on railways was of comparatively recent date. Probably the first electric locomotive constructed was one which was exhibited in Berlin in 1879, and the first to 'be actually put in commission in the hauling of trains was on the Royal Zankerode colliery in Saxony in 1882. In 1890 the City ftnd South London deep-level tube railway was constructed and worked electrically. Since those dates the developments of this method of working had been rapid, and at the present time there were thousands of miles of railways operating electrically. “It must be recognised, however,” said Mr. Mac Lean, “that electrification is no universal panacea for railway ills. In suitable circumstances it is capable of yielding excellent results, but every case must be carefully examined on ite merits, from both the financial and the technical points of view. Under normal conditions the steam locomotive is acknowledged even by enthusiastic advocates of electric traction to be the roost economical means of haulage, and in practically every case where electric haulage has been adopted there has been some special reason. THE FINANCIAL ASPECT.

“A typical example of this is the case of the Otira Tunnel, where it has been decided to adopt electric traction, principally on account of the difficulty of using’ steam locomotives in the tunnel. Let us consider the financial aspect of electrification of the New Zealand railways. The total route mileage of the railways is at the present time somewhat over 3000 miles, and the track mileage nearly 4000 miles. The latter mileage must be adopted in considering the cost of electrification. “It was estimated some years ago by a well-known electrical engineer that the cost of the electrification of our railways would be about £5OOO per mile, excluding the cost of power stations (that is the cost of generating the supply of electric current) and of the necessary engines and rolling stock. This estimate is probably low. as m England before the war it was found that the cost of electrification was roughly £20,000 per mile. But it will be sufficient for the present purpose to adopt the sum stated. The cost of the electrification of the whole system would, therefore, be, say, £'20.000,000 an addition to the present capital cost, £37.235,254, of over 50 per cent., the interest on which sum, £1,000,000 a year, would have to be found. 'This, it must be remembered, is the cost of the equipment necessary to use electric current in place of the fuel and water require'! in steam traction, and does not include either the cost of the locomotives or of the electric current required. The total cost of fuel and water may be put at an average, under reasonably normal conditions, of well under £500.000 a year. These figures will give some indication of the cost of the electrification of the whole system. PARTIAL ELECTRIFICATION. “What is true of the whole may be taken to apply in a general way to partial electrification. In a detailed investigation into the coat of the electrification of a section, where the circumstances seemed favorable, it was estimated that the capital cost involved amounted to over £7OOO per mile (at pre-war rates), and that the cost of generating would be practically double that of steam locomotives. This estimate was prepared by the same authority 1 have already quoted—an enthusiastic advocate of electrification. It will thus be seen that the question of electrification in its financial aspect alone is not so simple as many people imagine. “Electric traction has many advantages, and if what has been said may appear of a somewhat diverse nature it seems necessary to give a word of warning against hasty generalisations. It seems not unlikely that notwithstanding the cost, electrification may bo found in special cases to afford the most satisfactory solution in handling traffic and in providing for the public convenience.”