Huge Savings From N.Z.R. Diesel Move

Press, Volume CVIII, Issue 31596, 6 February 1968, Page 24

Huge Savings From N.Z.R. Diesel Move

(New Zealand Press Association)

WELLINGTON, February 5.

Completing the change to diesel on New Zealand railways would result in an immense saving in locomotive fuel costs, apart from other associated economies, the Minister of Railways (Mr Gordon) said today.

Mr Gordon said that already, in spite of a 27 per cent increase in traffic, the Railways Department’s payments for locomotive fuel and power had fallen from more than ssm in 1953-54—the year before the first big main-line diesel locomotives were introduced —to less than s3m in 1966-67.

In a survey of the results to date from the change from steam to diesel traction, Mr Gordon replied to “criticism from various quarters” of the spending of overseas funds on a large number of new locomotives at a time of economic difficulty.

Mr Gordon said: “The cost of the full change to diesel is estimated at about ss2m spread over a period of some 20 years. “At the same time, based on 1967 fuel prices and traffic, it is estimated that the annual savings in fuel costs alone, as between an all-diesel system and an all-steam one, would be about $5,400,000. "Thus, even if there were no other economies, the capital cost would be covered by fuel savings in less than 10 years.” The Minister said that if steam locomotives had been retained a large number of those in the North Island would have had to continue to burn oil. Nearly Double He said it might not be generally realised that, because burning oil in a steam locomotive was far less efficient than burning it in a diesel engine, the cost of the fuel for these oil-fired steam locomotives would in fact be nearly double the cost of diesel fuel for the entire system if it were fully diesel. Hard Coal

Consequently, far from adding to the drain on overseas funds, the change to diesel power had in fact resulted in a reduction of about $1,100,000 a year in expendi-

tore on imported locomotive fuel. Mr Gordon said that because the country’s stocks of hard coal were limited, and because the costs of producing it were high, it was better to use this fuel in plants that could be designed for maximum efficiency. The cost of fuel for diesel locomotives was about onethird the cost of coal for steam locomotives of corresponding power, he said.

Mr Gordon said the modern diesel locomotive was no less reliable than the steam locomotive, given appropriate, care and maintenance; and experience to date indicated that maintenance costs would be less than half of those for coal-fired steam locomotives.New Boilers The Minister added that if the change to diesel traction had not been decided upon it would still have been necessary to purchase new steam locomotives and replacement boilers from overseas manufacturers at a substantial cost in overseas funds. They would now cost about the same as equivalent diesel locomotives because few manufacturers were now geared to make them, the world-wide demand being now almost non-existent.