THE TRAMWAYS.

Press, Volume LXII, Issue 12177, 25 April 1905, Page 5

THE TRAMWAYS.

TO THE EDITOR OF THE FBESS. . Sir, —The very sensible leader appearing in to-day's "Press" in reference to tramway matters will. I feel sure, commend itself to the public, every member of which is vitally interested in this subject. And I entirely, agree with you that Mr Recce, in asking that the Tramway Board shall not be criticised until tho lines aro finished "is asking a good deal," because, of course, if we wait until the lines aro finished and all the arrangements are made in connection with the running of the trams, it may be too lato to rectify any errors of judgment made by tho Board now. "Prevention is better than cure." and even aumitting that objectionable arrangements could bo upset or amended hereafter, the rectification of initial errors is always more or less a tedious business, involving delay and_ tho use of a great deal of red tape. No, I submit that tho proper time to criticise the action of the Board is now, so that errors may be avoided at the outset, and when I speak of errors there is none more glaring in my opinion than the idea of making the Square the common stopping and starting point for trams. Who suggested this idea? The sugestion must have emanated from someono with no knowledge of local requirements. As everybody knows, tho Square is only on the confines of the city and not in its centre at all. All the most highly rated properties lie south of tha Square; also, it should be remembered, that the principal factories and workshops lie between Hereford streot and South belt, and employ thousands of hands. Should all these young men and women be compelled to submit to being dumped down in the Square and compelled to either pay an additional penny or walk from thence to their respective places of business south of tho Square—a walk of from five to ten minutes, and involving not only the greatest inconvenience and loss of time, but in wet or stormy weather a positive hardship? I say no. The thing is unreasonable, and as unnecessary as it is preposterous. Why should not all the trams from all points, without exception, travel right through the city, merely pausing at the Square long enough to set down those who wish to alight there, and then proceed as thoy certainly ought, to the Railway Station. Tho heart of the city is situate, I submit, between the Square and the South belt, and ' we should j have, as has already been suggested by other correspondents, a continuous service of trams constantly passing up and j down over this section, and picking up and setting down passengers all the tune. But in order to facilitate this arrangement it is necessary, I contend, that Mr Gray's idea of a double track through the Square, connecting with the lines at Morton's corner and Broadway's should bo given effect to. This is not merely desirable; it is absolutely essential to the carrying out of the penny section through the heart of the city idea. And that the public is keenly interested in this idea is proved by the way in which people are discussing it. It is in everybody's mouth, and as the Board must be credited with thiS desire to meet, tho wishes of the public so far as possible, it surely cannot and will not ignore the desire of the public for penny fares right through tne city within the four T-eits. To centralise the Square, as has been proposed, will bo to check the flow of tram traffic and cause such scenes of confusion in the Square as the Board hpi. apparently no conception of. The greit object should be to keep tho cars—all of them—constantly running,. This is the system adopted in Dunedin and Wellington, and it answers admirably. And if all the trams took in the Station it would largely help to popularise them, and the more these trams are popularised the better, of course, will they pay. The Wellington trams must be very popular, because they are, according to a statement hy Mr Wright, electrical engineer, carrying about 12 million passengers a year. Think of it! —between 30,000 and 40,000 passengers a day. Why, the entire population of Wellington must be constantly using these cars, and that is what we want to see in Christchurch.—Yours, etc., SYDENHAM. April 22nd.