Higher Railway Charges.

Press, Volume LXVI, Issue 20084, 13 November 1930, Page 10

Higher Railway Charges.

The fact that higher railway charges have been gazetted, and will operate as from Sunday next, is interesting, but is not in itself very encouraging. The recent Commission recommended big economies in expenditure as well as increases in fares and freights—especially a reduction of the staff " to " the minimum required to meet the " business needs of the Department " and it does not inspire confidence that the Government has ignored everything in the Commission's report except the recommendations regarding increased charges. Even if it could be believed that these increases will produce an additional revenue of approximately £200,000, and that the further increases which seem to be contemplated will bring the total up to the £334,000 mentioned in the Commission's recommendations, it would be the opinion of most people that the Government has begun at the wrong end. The new tariff—if it is the beginning and end of the reorganisation—means that those who do business with the railways are to be penalised in order that the service may be conducted in a manner and at a cost which no competent business proprietory would tolerate. It is serious enough for the customers of the railway, as well as for the service itself, when substantial increases in charges are necessary after everything possible has been done to reduce costs; it is a quite hopeless state of affairs when charges are increased to balance inflated costs. If that is to be the Government's real policy, the outlook for the railways is just about as black as it can be,