Vaile's Railway System.

Auckland Star, Volume XVIII, Issue 146, 23 June 1887, Page 2

Vaile's Railway System.

(To the Editor.)

Sir, —A wise man (I cannot at the moment remember exactly who), once said something to the following, effect: — That every improvement or discovery which proved an ultimatesuccesspassed through threostages. Tho first, in which we all said "It is absurd and impracticable ;" the second, in which we conclude that "we must look into it;" and the third, in which we find "we all knew it before." lam almost ashamed to say that up to within a few days ago I had not arrived even at the second stage with regard to Mr Vaile's scheme of railway reform, bub Iris admirablo persistence ut last determined me to at least carefully examine the figures, and so far as it wa* possible, tp verify or otherwise his calculations. I have carefully perused the whole of the evidence tuken before the Committee in Wellington .and .the returns of passenger trailic with comparisons under Vaile's system compiled for the information of the (Jommitteeby the Railway Department, and, to my own not inconsiderable surprise, I havo been forced to the conclusion that so far from- Mr Vaile's scheme being impracticable, oi, regards lhe pasmmjer IraJJic it is most probable that it could be brought into immediate operation .-with the fairest prospect of yielding at oiice a revenue equal to that derived. under the existing system. The ouly ; point in the calculation in which ! would be inclined to disagree with Mr Vaile (leaving out of account the matter of expectation of increase of traffic) would be in fixing .his ,"average fare." This I do not think could safely be counted upon to exceed tenpence, although Mr -Vaiio and liis witnesses think a shilling could be reckoned on with safety. That is to say, the average fare would be found to bo that of the second stage, the numbers.of Ist and 2nd class passengers travelling under his system being likely tobe, on.the most reasonable estimate, about equal. The advantages which Mr Vaile's system confers upon the travelling:publio, and the indirect benefits tb the colony, are so great that no time should, I think, be lost in giving his system a fair trial. If brought into operation for a year on the Auckland section, and on the supposition that not one single-additional person travelled over the lines, the loss for twelve months could not exceed .1.22,205 .even on the basis of lOd average fare. It would, require 2.f- persons to travel, instead of one, .as at present,, to yield a.revenue equal to .the present revenue, and whon we.consider,that the highest fare North (to Helensville) is 2s Gd first-class arid Is'Bd second-class, and South (to Te Awamut'u) 3s first-class and 2s second-class, it seems to me not improbablcthat the,traffic will increase to the required extent. This, however, must necessarily be matter.of mere conjecture until proved or, disproved by actual experihnent.' Taking the gloomiest view with a shadow of .prqbability in It, the experiment could certainly be tried on the Auckland railways' for a year without entailing; a risk'of losing more than a very insignificaritsum, say certairilyat the outside not ihqre than £iO,OOO, and the scheme has npw, thanks to Mr- Vaile's able advocacy, taken so strong a hold of the public mind that'a trial it 'must have. If, when tried, it [is found a . financial success, I have no hesitation in saying that the colony of New Zealand-will owe Mr-Vaile a heavier debt of gratitude than cari rightfully be claimed'by any other mfin in the colony.—l am, etc., J. Aitken Connell.