D.—2

VIII

made for the construction of the new 100 ft. road. At the present rate of progression the reclamation of Mechanics and St. George's Bays will be completed during the year 1917. This reclamation constitutes the first step in connection with the Auckland new station-yard. Staff Organization. The proposals outlined in my special report of the Ist August, 1914, in respect to the appointment of Assistant Traffic Managers and Commercial Agent in the Traffic Branch have been carried into effect, and the new allocation of duties consequent thereon have been arranged, with satisfactory results. The benefits accruing from the alterations are already apparent, and will become more so as the officers concerned gain experience in their new duties. The appointment of Commercial Agent has been particularly beneficial to the Department by reason of the facility it affords for getting personally into touch with our customers, and inquiring on the spot into many matters that form the subject of complaint, the satisfactory settlement of which would be tedious and often impracticable if correspondence was solely relied upon. Signal Engineer's Branch. —Owing to the highly technical character of the work undertaken in the Signalling Department, and the necessity for obtaining in the first instance an officer who has had a wide and varied experience in connection with the supervision, laying-out, erecting, and installing signals and interlocking appliances, as well as a practical knowledge of mechanical, electrical, electro-pneumatic systems, block, and telegraphs and telephones, the appointment of Assistant Signal and Interlocking Engineer has not yet been made. Inquiries have been made throughout Australasia, and the replies indicate the improbability of obtaining a suitable man in any of the States. Applications have been invited in the United Kingdom, and the result is now awaited. Information already received points to the fact that the prospects ahead of qualified men in their present spheres are so good that they are disinclined to accept offers abroad, while the attention that is being devoted to signalling-improvements on many important railway-systems has created a demand, which is in excess of the supply of qualified men available at the moment. Locomotive Branch. —An Office Engineer has now been appointed, and the office organized to fit the altered conditions. General. —A commission of three officers has been appointed for the purpose of investigating the work and conditions at the various stations with a view to a reclassification. Owing, however, to the inroads made into the Railway staff as a result of members enlisting for the front it became imperatively necessary for members of the Commission to resume their ordinary railway duties temporarily before they had finished their investigations. Arrangements will, however, be made for the resumption of the special duty at the earliest possible moment, as I am desirous of dealing comprehensively and finally with the subject at the earliest possible date. The Committee has been specially directed to note carefully the stations which in their opinion would be suitable to members of the Second Division. Advertising. The advertising on railway premises has been taken over by the Department. An Advertising Branch has been established, and suitable arrangements made for securing renewal of many advertising contracts previously in force, conserving the interests of clients by seeing that advertisements are promptly erected and properly maintained. The general object aimed at is the improvement of the appearance of stations by a standardization of advertisements, and the display, as far as possible, of specially attractive and artistically designed matter. The number of advertisements will also be limited, and their display restricted to certain positions. The display of departmental notices has also received attention, and arrangements have been made to ensure uniformity throughout the system. The net result will be the enhancement of the value of Railway premises as advertising media. Town" Ticket-offices. Good results have followed the opening of a town ticket-office in Wellington, the office being extensively patronised for booking, inquiries, &c, with a consequent desirable relief of the bookingoffice at the stations. Inquiries have been made with a view to obtaining suitable offices in other centres. Such sites as have, up to the present, been brought under the notice of the Department have not been suitable for our requirements, and as the prevailing conditions are such as to render it inadvisable to incur additional expenditure at the present juncture it has been decided to defer action in respect to other centres meantime. Train Services. After carefully reviewing the time-table arrangements a number of important alterations were made and brought into operation on the Ist November last. These included the acceleration of through passenger-trains, thus materially reducing the journey-time between Wellington, Auckland, Napier, and New Plymouth. The arrangements have worked satisfactorily. Further improvements will probably be made in the long-distance services in the near future. One of the greatest difficulties that the Department has to contend with in connection with acceleration of train services is the persistent demands that are made for increasing the number of stops. Frequent stops are, of course, incompatible with a faster service. Construction of New Lines. During the year just' ended a number of lines have been handed over to the Working Railways Department, and a considerable programme for new lines has also been approved without the Working Railways Department —which must for all time be most vitally interested and concerned —being afforded an opportunity to furnish an estimate showing the probable volume of traffic, cost of working, and to what extent the proposed lines will ultimately show a profit or loss. In view of the importance of the subject, I deem it desirable to repeat in extenso the following recommendation made in my special report, D.-2b, of the Ist August, 1914, and urge that effect be given thereto : — " The arrangements under which new railways are authorized and built in the Dominion are, I would respectfully suggest, capable of considerable improvement. At the present time a new line is undertaken without any consultation with the Railway Department, and in consequence the only