RAILWAY REFORM.

Auckland Star, Volume XVIII, Issue 256, 31 October 1887, Page 2

RAILWAY REFORM.

WILL MR VAILE'S SCHEME ANSWER?

XPERIENCB ON THE LONDONMETROPOLITAN RAILWAYS.

A SUGGESTED ALTERNATIVE.

(To the Editor.)

Sir,—As the question of railway fares and charges will probably be raised in the House during the present session, I think the time opportune for a public inquiry into the subject with a view of ascertaining whether a reduction in the passenger fares cannot be made without financial los 3to the railway revenue. In this connection so much has been written and said about the system proposed by Mr S. Vaile, and reported on by a Parliamentary Committee, that probably no important change will be made until his scheme is finally disposed of one way or the other. Now the whole question hinges on a population basis, and the desire or necessity for that population to travel. In this country our population is small and widely scattered outside of the large towns, therefore cannot be considered a migratory one, being generally of a hard-working, thrifty class, who have nob the leisure to travel; and it is an accepted fact that a rural population does not travel on business or for pleasure to so great an extent as the residents or workers in cities and towns.

Mr Vaile, in his system of fares and rates by stages (of from 7 to 50 miles apart), proposed fares which were in the opinion of the railway authorities too low to pay. This scheme was submitted to a Parliamentary Committee, and no doubt the Committee which reported upon that scheme gave an unbiased opinion, and. from the evidence produced had no other course open to them than to decide against the colony undertaking the responsibility lor any loss which might arise from a trial of the system on our railways. Mr Vaile claimed for his scheme that it would result in the rapid migration of the town population to the country, and lead to the establishment of inland villages in place of the congregation of people in a few large centres. Now, if such were the case, and the present population of New Zealand •were more sparsely distributed, it would rather in effect decrease the numbers travelling than increase them, as a family once settled on the land would not be so likely or liable to move as one living in a town ; nor does the farmer travel so often for pleasure or on business as the citizen. Thus instead of getting three fares where we now get one, we probably would not get more than three-quarters of a fare, more especially as under Mr Vaile's system of 50-mile stages for rural districts the local traffic around inland towns would be executed at a ridiculously low rate. If the Committee on the scheme had, in addition to the Railway Managers, called the evidence of the guards and ticket clerks who have a knowledge of the persons using tho various lines, they would have found that the individuals not recognised by sight by the guards, etc., using the line outside a 7-milo radius were few, so much so that when a railway employee sees a new face in a rural district he wonders who the

person is. The conditions under which tho number of people travelling might perhaps be trebled by a low fare, do not exist in New Zealand. Here, tho low average speed on the railways, and the inducements or attractions that would lead people to uso the lines for pleasure, are very limited. The unfavourable experience with excursion trains, on other than holidays and in connection with special galas, proves that on ordinary days, when people have their business to attend to, they probably could not, oven by the offer of free carriage, be tempted to travel on the railways three times for once they travel now. They have not the time to travel far into tho country, and Mr Vaile's scheme could offer no greater incentive to suburban residence than is already offered under the system of season tickets. The season fares for the 9mile radius around the chief cities are already much lower than Mr Vaile proposes for his ticket stations, and he has been compelled to admit that in order to prevent a decrease, instead of producing an increase, in the suburban traffic, he would be obliged to attach the existing season ticket system to his plan. That a reduction in fares does not, in all cases, greatly affect the numbers travelling, or the desire to reside in the suburbs, is shown by the fact that although season tickets are charged much lower than the ordinary fares, or those under Mr Vaile's fare by Btagez, or even than the city tram fares, the numbers of persons availing themselves of these tickets are not very large, thus proving that cheap fares alone will not induce people to disperse from the towns and centres of population to the suburban or country districts ; vide following table :—

From the foregoing it will be seen that Borne greater inducement than cheap fares must be found to cause people either to live in distant suburbs, or to be settled on the land. . As the increase required in the number of tickets outside the seven-mile radius is so great—in some instances six for one—it would be impossible for the scheme of fares by stages to prove a financial success, and the loss on railway revenue would have to be made up by direct taxation, which already is heavily enough ■weighted with interest on unreproductive leans. The system of "fares by stages bristles with the most unsatisfactory anomalies in its unjust bearing on the districts affected by tho irregular and eccentric method under which the fare is calculated or assessed. See examples :—

Can any scheme be more unsatisfactory ? Surely such an anomalous system will never be seriously entertained. Even if every 7 miles of railroad were marked-as a ticket station, and fares Were assessed on 7-mile stages ai>4d per fare, or stage, throughout ' the colorrfe jb would still bear more unfairly on the townspeople and, populous districts than en the Country or rural because Ithe citizen or workman, &c.» living in town, and whose business,, work or employment required his proceeding to the suburbs at distances from 2 to 5, miles, would have to

pay the same fare, 4d, as one travelling on or using the line for 4, 5, or 6 miles. Mr Vaile's system of " fares by stages favours sparsely-settled country populations only, and this at the expense ot the residents in towns and populous districts, as it ia from the latter that the increased amounts required to carry out the system would have to be recovered, they being the travelling population. Why should this increased expense be borne by the workers or residents in or near towns, when ib is a well-known fact that the people who reside or live in, settle on, or travel in the country at distances of over ten miles from a.town, do so either for their own advantage, convenience, business, or pleasure? Then why should other people be called upon either directly or indirectly to pay for these settlers' pleasures, etc. 1 As a rule, the people who settle on the land at distances from the centres of population (30 to 100 miles), do so entirely for their own advantage, and can purchase the land at a very low figure. They also have smaller expenses generally. Why, then, should the citizen or suburban farmer, who has paid a very high price for his allotment or land, be charged more for travelling than the man who has bought his land cheap ? Is it just? In order to test the extent to which the districts neav the centres of population would have to bear the burdens of more distant settlers and landowners, take Return No. 10 of the " Working Railways Statement," in which is shown the number of tickets issued; and as an approximate estimate calculate, as second class, the value of the fares for tickets issued from the several stations : Newmarket, 24,728; Remuera, 5,119; Ellerslie, 12,605; and so on to Frankton and Hamilton, 9,894 ; reckon the passengers as having proceeded from the several stations to Auckland, If the details of the stations to which tickets were issued at Auckland (107,588) could be obtained, it is mathematically certain that the disadvantages cast upon the districts near the city under Mr Vaile's prouosals would be displayed in even a stronger light than appears from the returns of the suburban and country stations, because, in treating every fare as a through one to Auckland, Mr Vaile gets the benefit of the whole of his seven-mile ticket stations in each fare, while it is manifest that a large amount of the local traffic would come under the 50-mile ticket stations, and would produce a smaller average. But as the destinations of the tickets from Auckland station cannot be obtained, I have omitted them altogether. Calculating the tickets, then, as all for transit to Auckland, it appears that under the present tariff the sum of £4,890 would be collected for tickets issued at stations from Newmarket to Drury inclusive, and a sum of £11,415 for tickets issued between Pukekohe and Hamilton, both inclusive. Now, under Mr Vaile's system, £2,472, or rather more than one half of the present fares, would have been collected from Newmarket to Drury, and only £2,509, or considerably less than one fourth of the present fares, from Pukekohe to Hamilton.

Tho gross inequality and injustice of these rosults become thbmore apparent when it is remembered that the present tariff is baaed strictly on the amount of service rendered, and that the tariff is already unfair to the shortdistance traveller, as it does not take into account the fact that the trains are full between Auckland and Drury; while the same amount of cost in labour and fuel is incurred to carry a much fewer number of passengers to the move distant stations. It is self-evident that it would never pay to carry a passenger a distance of Jifty miles in a sparsely-settled district for four--pence, and the loss must be recouped in some way. Such a faro has never been attempted in any part of tho world oven iv steamboat traffic, which has is no permanent way to provide, involving a large expenditure of capital, besides a heavy annual cost for itsraaintonence. So low a faro, as is easily shown from the London metropolitan railways; would not pay the cost ot mere coaching in moving the vast population of London to and from their businesses and ploasures. Mr Vaile appears to have got the idea that it costs no more to carry a dozen passengers than it does to carry one, and he appeals to tho popular fancy by pointing to the fact that railway carriages are often almost empty. Now, everyone who is acquainted with the rudiments of practical railway management is aware that a manager is bound to provide for the possible maximum of his round journey, but he will never put on a eingl* carriage more than is necessary on account of the cost in labour, haulage and wear and tear. If our railway carriages are sometimes empty, they are sometimes overcrowded, and if ten times the number of people were being carried wo should often see Ompty carriages. All railway expenses all the world over are calculated at per train mile run, and necessarily so calculated—there is no other rational way of reckoning them. According to the New Zealand railway returns for 1877,1 find that tho cost of maintenance of way for the year was £15383 per mile of railway, or 5s 2d per train mile on the Auckland line, and £185-58 per mile of line, or 7s 2|d per train mile on the Huriinui-Bluff railway. The locomotive expenditure was £9354 per mile of railway in Auckland, and £9499 on the Hurunui-Bluff, and the carriage and waggon repairs were £3707 per mile of railwt/ in Auckland, and £3247 on the Huru-nui-Bluff.

But we are not left to mere opinion or theory relative to the cost of a passenger traffic; we have the actual results of experience. Take the Great Western in England, which operates 2,384 miles of railway. Its revenue last year was £3,243 per mile. Now let us contrast it with the Metropolitan District railway, which is a purely passenger line, only 19 miles long, and which ought, according to Mr Vaile, to demonstrate the marvellous cheapness with which passengers can be carried. Well, the actual working expenses of tho Great Western absorb 49 per cent, of the gross receipts, the working expenses of the Metropolitan district line take 48 per cent, of the gross receipts, and the railway, owing to capital charges, &c, is non-paying, although it is grossing at the rate of £22,665 per mile. If these ridiculously low fares were possible anywhere, it would be in the heart of London, moving the vast population to and from their businesses. Now, let us see what are the actual fares charged on the Metropolitan railways, and what the profits. ' The Metropolitan District, as I havealready stated, has not paid a dividend for years. The Loudon Metropolitan railway works 24 miles of line in the heart of the great city. It starts trains at 6 a.m., and runs them continuously at five minutes' intervals till midnight, on its double line. No train is allowed to stop at any station more than two minutes, and as every Londoner knows the rush to get aboard tho trains as they crush in and out of stations is so great at certain times of the uight that a timid man may wait an hour or more before he secures a place. In this way—the outward and inward trains going on separate line, so that collision is impossible—this Company manages to carry 100,000,000 passengers in a single year. Yet it only pays 4 per cent, dividend, although its fares are enormous if compared with Mr Vaile's 50 miles for 4d, as will be seen from the following tariff:—

The Auckjanc rSn_Set» "^i oS ctly the same class ot traffic, and tickets, reckoned on the aye fares, are no higher if we take the mileage into account. The above figures show the very be-t'resußrobtaTnable fromi. = ge, trade worked under the ™osb favourable, circumstances. Anyone crfn estimate foi himself what the returns -Egg a 4d fare for fifty miles in a spaisely-settled district like Waikato. As it is, now the .xtension of our railways unpopulated districts is eteadiy oweiing SB financial results out 1 ineß, a* will be seen by a glance au ww mentioned details taken from the W OWUiig Railways' Statement" 1887:—

From the foregoing it will be seen that although 97 miles of railway was opened during the past three yearn, the revenue received per mile of rail in 1883-4 was actually £169 more than during tho year 1886-7, while the expenses per train mile were less, being 3s 9}d in 1883-4, against 4s 3d in 1886-7, or a difference of 5Jd against the latter year, with its increased length of railway. The foregoing statistics, which are taken from the railway statements, prove that the heavy cost of working the railways in these sparsely-settled districts, far from the centres of population and markets of commerce, is already reducing the profits from the lines through settled districts ; yet it is the residents in theso very districts, which already receive all privileges for the same price that is charged to travellers on the paying sections of the lines, that Mr Vaile proposes to still further subsidise at the public cost t The salient error in Mr Vaile's scheme, which has mystified himself and mystifies others, has arisen through striking averages where tho elements of true average do not exist. He mixes up short and long distance fares, and then says, "If we can only get three fares whore we get one now, wo shall make the same revenue," omitting altogether the cost of coaching and maintenance, which is inseparable from traffic. On the London lines the cost under these heads is enormous. But apart from its certain financial loss, Mr \ aile's scheme appears to be one without any rationalguiding principle. It professes to abolish differential rating, and yet creates an arbitrary and quixotic rate of fare, violating tho principles of equity and tending solely to enhance the value of distant land, at the cost of landholders in the vicinity of the cities, the townsman, and the taxpayer. In ray opinion the sooner this chimerical scheme is dismissed the sooner the question of rational railway fares will command the serious attention of tho public and the Government.

What, then, is practicable in the way of railway reform ? The change most urgently needed in the interests of the country is a revision Of the goods tariff, which is of far greater importance than any scheme to tempt our population into the habit of wasting precious time in jolting up and down our railways at a speed of 15 miles an hour. Still, a reform is, I believe, possible with regard to passenger rates, and would prove advantageous. The present rates of railway fare outside suburban districts appear to be calculated at ljd per mile for second class, and at a little over 2d per mile first class. As some reduction is required, and will no doubt be made, it could easily be effected by establishing a universal rate of Id per mile for second class, and 2d for first class, all over the colony. By this rate you would only require a slight increase in tho number of passengers, viz., one and a half fares to be taken where one is now taken, with a minimum fare of 3d instead of 4d now charged for the first fare. These rates, which are as low as those ruling in England, could not be complained of, and as the fares throughout would bo so greatly reduced, encouragement would be given for people to travel, and we should obtain an increased number of passengers travelling all distances, both on business and for pleasure. This reduction in fares would be equitable both to town and country resident or settler, each obtaining a similar benefit, while the incroase in the working and other expenses of the railway would-be very small. Another advantage to be gained by the public, by a fixed rate per mile for all distances (with the minimum 3d fare), would be this: The intending traveller would know exactly what he had to pay to or from any station. If he went 4 miles he would pay 4d, 5 miles 6d, and so on. This would be the most straightforward and satisfactory basis upon which fares could be assessed.—lam, etc., Charing Ckoss.

ID I i _ 'umoj raoaj ipuq j.qjo oqi 'umoj 0? t ox Ipim slDuanof o~i on: 8*6 1?° _ _ r-l _ CO CO _ 3 j «0J o s o m to o © US o o CO h » - S eo a8 t— s (M e a 02 o ■a s I' - B a o «" .S3 _<u a _> s 13 m Ph 03 to .a 4) a O - a ■ *S m 1 -!71 Cto 10 >_> • 0>

Pnkekohe to Hamilton.. Auckland to Wairangi.. Newmarket to Auckland Bllerslie to Papatoitoi .. JIarailton to Papakura .. Auckland to Otahuhu .. Te Awainutu to Pukekohe Miles. 54 54 ■1 65 9 70 s. 0 '1 0 0 0 0 0 d, 4 8 4 8 8 8 8

Distance Station. from 1st 3rd Aklgate. Class. Class, Mborgate-slreet .. .milo 4d 2d AUersgate-street .. 1 mile 6d 3d King's Cross .. .. 2J miles 8d 4d Gower-street .. ..3 miles 9d 3d Portland Road .. 3. miles 9d 5d Baker-street .. .,4 miles 2d Ed Bishop's Road . ..5 miles 9d 6d Wostbourne Park «. 6 miles 9d 5d NottingHill .. .. 6J'milos Sd. 5d Latimer Road.. ., 7 miles 9d Bd Shepherd's Biish .. 7} miles lOd 6d Broadway .. ..8 miles lOd 6d The time occupied in rumiing Aldgate tc Broadway is 44 minutes.