THE RAILWAY QUESTION.

Auckland Star, Volume XXII, Issue 35, 11 February 1891, Page 2

THE RAILWAY QUESTION.

(To the Editor.) g lßf _WhatevertheßailwayCommisßioners may print, and Mr J. B. Whyte may write, it cannot be denied thab the Hungarian system has been a great success, and if any person should be gratified at the result it is Mr Vaile, whose efforts in the same direction we all know. Not many men have been able to see a useful reform introduced during their own lives, and this has been the fortune of Mr Vaile. Tbe " Melbourne Age " gives a few particulars that may not be known to your readers. It says : " In 1887 the State railways of Hungary showed a deficiency of £180,000. Since August, 1889, that deficiency has been wiped out, and a surplus has taken its place. In 1888, the number of passengers, on State lines was 5,587,700; the

receipts were £923,570. In 1889, the reduced fares increased the number of passengers to 9,097,200, the receipts to £1,031,710. If we compare the returns from the Ist August, 1889, to the 31st July, 1890—thab is the nrat complete year during which the zone system was in operation—with the returns lor the twelve months immediately preceding it, the result is yet the more The numberof passengers increased by 7,874,524, the receipts by £204,804. The significance of these facts was not lost on the managers of the private lines, of which there are a number in Hungary. They found it absolutely necessary either to adopt the zone system inaugurated by the Gorernment, or to make such reductions in their fares as were almost tantamount to its adoption. The shareholders had no reason to regret the more generous policy forced on those in whose hands they had placed their interests. Once empty carriages were crowded ; revenue was increased considerably, and expenditure hardly at all. The Austrian Minister of Railways watched the experiment, and was so impressed with the success which crowned it that on the 16th June, 1890, he introduced the kreutzer zone tariff. It is merely a modification of the Hungarian one. The third-class passenger is charged 2d for each zone of six miles, the second-class passenger twice, the first-class passenger three times that sum. Bub the most extraordinary feature of the Austrian system will seem the granting of yearly tickets, available on all lines owned or worked by the State, at the following rates:—First class, £30; secondclass, £20 ; third-class, £10. If further evidence of the success which has followed the venture of M. Baroas is required, it will be found in the fact that the Hungarian Government has decided to apply the zone system to goods traffic, and to make reductions in freight, averaging at least 30 per cent." This is merely the conclusion of a description of the Hungarian reform, taken by the " Melbourne Age " from the " Glasgow Evening Citizen," and published in exienso, wibli comparisons between the Hungarian and Victorian systems. —I am, etc., Citizen.