VAILE RAILWAY SYSTEM

Press, Volume LVIII, Issue 11110, 31 October 1901, Page 6

VAILE RAILWAY SYSTEM

THE COMMITTEE'S BEPOKT.

(SEBCTAI, TO "THE WtESS."} . 'J" • WELLINGTON, OetoSfP 30. The Petition of Samuel Vaile, praying for a trial of STs system on the Auckland railways, was reported upon as follows by the Railway Coniniit.ee: —"The Committee recoiaiaeads that ua the subject of the petition involves a matter oi poiicy the jpetiuon be reJerred to the Government ioi- consideration." There was a report attached irom Mr Konayne, the General Manager of the Kuuwuvf, in whien he saia: "It is rtpresenteu by the peivrion tiiat the liaantuin i«?Uits of the Hungarian Zone system have bten such as u» justify t'lie a<h>ptiou oi iijs sys&ein. Aluiougn • statistics are furnished oy the i«titio.,tr I showing large increase of business and i a relatively much lower iuereate of iue r earnings, 110 reliable information is available with regard to the expenditure mciared in working the mci cashed traffic Without this information the statements made with regard to the extraordinary success of the Hungarian gyst«n are valueless. Trom the fact, that the Hungarian system' has been altered in vhe direction of uiciea«ing the fares twice since its inauguration in 1889, it may be assumed that the increased ba&iness nas been unprofitable, and that the revenue is being gradually absorbed by the increased cost of working, i Although the Department has no figures : available to show the increased expenditure in working the Hungarian system, a reliable basis is available on which the cost of working such an increased business in this country may be arrived at. This basis is the actual expenditure incurred in working the increase of traffic in 1901 over live traffic in 1895." After giving details of what Mr Yaue asks, the report . proceeds:—"Assuming, therefore, that the fares and rates proposed by Mr Vaile were adopted, and that, the increased business resulted as predicted, then tiie expenditure which would be required to work tnis increased traffic can ba readily arrived at, the basis bsing the actual cost of working a similar increase of traffic, that is, •the increase of traffic in 1901 over the'traffic of 1895. The expenditure JB>r working, ■ increased business, which' on'account of the lower rates produoes no additional revenue, amounts to £816,112, and the total expenditure is £1.943,959, being £216,725 iiMxcefcS of the total revenue. It follows, therefore, that the 'business at the excessively low fares and rates proptised would be earned on at less than-the actual cost, and that the greater the increase of business at these unremunerative rates and "fares, the greater would be the loss. Any such radical departure from established methods should not >be undertaken without the fulkst information as to the probable result and proof (of-which, tllere is a total absence in the evidence of the petitioner) ' that the earning power "of our rail- . ways would not be imperilled." ! The report of. the Committee, recommending that, the petition be referred to th© Government' for consideration, -was adopted' without discussion. j