“ALMOST BANKRUPT”

Wairarapa Times-Age, 5 October 1938, Page 5

“ALMOST BANKRUPT”

RAILWAYS ROLLING STOCK.

MINISTER CRITICISES BOARD CONTROL. “ Under the administration of the National Government and the Railways Board, the railways were almost bankrupt of rolling stock,” observed the Minister of Railways, the Hon D. G. Sullivan, in an interview with a “Times-Age” representative. “On March 31, 1930,” added the Minister, “there were 662 engines in service. Between 1931 and 1936. only 49 new engines were built, but 131 were scrapped, so when the present Government took control of the railways there were actually 82 fewer engines available to do the work than were running in 1930. In the two years since the present Government took the railways in hand, 22 new engines have been built and 16 scrapped. The railway workshops are working to capacity, but the figures which I have quoted indicate | that it has not yet been possible to recover all the leeway of the years when the Railways Board was, in effect, an economy committee. “There is a similar position in regard to wagons. At March 31, 1931. there were 27,893 wagons running on the railways. From that date and up to March 31, 1936, when the present Government took control of, the railways 2,399 wagons were scrapped, but only 1,338 were built to replace them. Since April 1, 1936, in two years of control under the present Government. 1,122 new wagons have been provided and 356 scrapped —a gain of 766 wagons. Thus the present Government “inherited” 1061 fewer wagons than were in stock in 1931, and had to set about the work of carrying more traffic and at the same time building up the depleted fleets of locomotives and wag--ons to do so.”