BRANCH RAILWAYS.

Auckland Star, Volume LXIII, Issue 123, 26 May 1932, Page 10

BRANCH RAILWAYS.

POLICY OF THE BOARD. PEOPLE'S ACTIONS DECISIVE.

VISIT TO BAY OF PLENTY. ! Ono of. the outstanding questions .it present facing the Railways Board, I* that of branch lines, said Mr. H. H. Sterling, chairman of the Railways Board, in a statement j-estcrday. Parliament had placed on the b'larcl a definite obligation in regard to the branch lines, the principle being laid down ill the Statute that such lines should not be operated at a substantial loss. The board, however, was not de-j sirous of doing anything of a hasty or j precipitous nature, and it had therefore adopted the policy of making the position known to the public, and it w':i« following this up by .itself visiting the various districts in order that it might make known to the people the position as the board viewed it, and obtain tho point of view of the people affected. The board had already visited the North Auckland area and has just completed a comprehensive tour of all the line* south of Dunedin. So far as the Auckland district was concerned, a very vital question w;is that in connection with the Bay of Plputy line. Tim board proposed 'to visit that district early in July. "A Cardinal Feature." "I would like to emphasise," said Mr. Sterling, ''what the board regards as a cardinal feature of the branch line question. The people will be taken as demonstrating by their acts in placing their transport with the railway, or with eonnJ competitive service, their definite desire to have the railway, or not to have it." Protests, merely as protests, could not be regarded by "the board as in any way assieting it. A much more vital question was the use which the people were making of the line in relation to the transport neede of the district. Licensing Authorities. Mr. Sterling also discussed the functioning of the newly-constituted licensing authorities. It was inevitable, he said, that the work of these authorities would bring them into very intimate contact with the work of the board. The board had adopted the policy of giving every assistance to the licensing authorities to enable them to discharge their duties in the best interests of the public as a'whole. Tho board was endeavouring in everv case to take a broad vie a of°the situation. It realised that true co-ordination meant not a stifling of services, but a co-ordination of the various transport factors with a view tc avoiding waste. Much had already been done along these lines which the board felt sure would be of material assistance to the licensing authorities in their work, and the board would continue to approach its relationships with other factomin tho transport industry and with licensing authorities in this spirit of helpful and sympathetic understanding and with a paramount consideration not of any sectional interests, but of the interests of tho public as a whole.