New rolling stock 'top priority’

Press, 18 December 1976, Page 3

New rolling stock 'top priority’

The need for new roll-; ing stock on New Zea-' Uand’s suburban and'; short-distance routes is i one of the top priorities of New Zealand Rail- ' [ ways today, according } Ito the general manager i j (Mr T. M. Hayward). 1 i He links this with the 11 I need for several DA locomo- ' hives, the Railways’ work-• [horses, to be rebuilt — al< [need which is now being? considered by the Govern-1 : ment. I “Everybody can see we ! [need new suburban car- 1 riages,” Mr Hayward said. “We are unhappy about having to continue to use old ■ equipment, but we recognise that the Government has its problems. The cost of replacement is about S4OM if we are to get rid of the old carriages.” Asked whether the state of some suburban carriages _ round Wellington suggested l‘ the need for better mainten-l, ance facilities, Mr Hayward), said: “The real problem is I that they are old. [, “ft would be very difficult and costly to renovate some ; [of them- There is no value , I'm putting paint, over corrojsion. Neither can they be!; [cleaned externally.” [ Mr Hayward regards the ; [passenger carriages as a[j “shop window,” and said 1 that lor this reason he); would like to see the oldl‘ _ carriages replaced. I; ' Asked about the long-term ) future of railcars, Mr Hay-;, ward doubted that any more 1 would be ordered. But he had some good news for the . South Island. “We are confident that we ' can continue to run railcars ( between Christchurch and Greymouth,” he said. “That : is. of course, until we can ] convert the Fiat railcars to ‘ carriages, which will allow them to be hauled as short s train-sets. “These should be in ser- ( vice by Christmas 1977, and 1 will guarantee-the continu- [ mice of rail passenger ser-!' [vices between Christchurch r land Greymouth. The Govern-p ment recognises that this is 1 the only way the Greymouth j J [service can be maintained.” * Mr Hayward denied that? [rail services were equally [1 ; necessary in other South Is- [ 1 [land areas. “You. just cannot ; c ■ get away rrom the attraction c I of the private car to the [owner,” he said. v I “He gets away with his I [family on his own holiday t ) — and this is a loss to the [railways. 1 Mr Hayward said that the e Greymouth link was import- t ant because the road alterna- r tive was so difficult. There t is also a special case for the J continued use of rail bes tween Christchurch and Pic- i ton. The rail connection with t the Picton ferry service has ■, proved popular, and will be

; watched with great interest, j over the holiday season. i The Government had, accepted the idea of using; the same concept on that) line as for Greymouth, the; conversion of twin-set railcars to carriages. These will be used on the Picton route from Christmas, 1977, Mr Hayward said. “The old carriages will [then go out of service.” be isaid. “The new converted rallicars will look well, and will .enable us to provide a good [service.” Mr Hayward does not see any return to railcars in the future. “We have had some real

mechanical disappointments [with railcars,” he said. ' “Others, such as the Vul» can, have been very good.l But they are 35 years old —[ and nothing will last for-) ever.” The main (actor working! [against the return of the) • railcar was its great cost.! [and that losses, had been) i heavy in its use. j j “People will say, and I. agree, that there isj [justification tor some passenger services to be provided to meet a social need,” Mr Hayward said. “But you cannot ignore cost altogether. Railcars cost about twice as much to run on a seat-mile basis as do diesel buses. “This means that there has to be a real social need to justify spending money on that scale for rail-passenger transport. The Government seems to have adopted that view, and has come to accept our reckoning that rail-cars are far too costly. “The small-train concept will continue, in cases of social demand and route efficiency.” Mr Hayward said that.) with the return of the re-1 furbished Aratika to service,' and the amount of work done! on the Christchurch-1 Lyttelton railway line, many I of the troubles with, freight! carriage had been overcome.) “With four ships in service between Wellington and Picton, we believe that this is the most efficient way to run. ; “The shortest possible sealink. connecting with a reli- ' able rail-service, is the answer. There has been a much greater degree of reliability on the Christchurch-j Picton line. j 1 “A lot of money has already been spent there, al- ■ though there is still much work to be done. 1 “Once we have completed'

tithe rehabilitation of .the main line, we shall extend lithe crossing-links. j) “We are getting bigger .[trains, but we have not got : enough long crossing-links yet. This is causing delays at I present.” i Mr Hayward sees the im- ’ mediate past as a period of considerable .growth, overshadowed by a poor financial ■ gain. This was caused mainly by the frozen charges imposed by the Labour Government in a period of tremenI dous inflation. It is hoped that the Rail- ! ways will break even finan- ' cially within two years, and the department will then try for a modest profit. “This modest-sounding aim . may be better evaluated when we remember that last year the Railways lost $66M.” Mr Hayward said. The principal continuing loss areas included suburban rail (SS.IM), suburban road (SI.3M), long-distance haulage (S3.IM), and the costs of ■ lightly used sections of railway. including branch lines—a total of well over SIOM.

This is the first of a series of articles by Cedric Mentiplay, based on exclusive interviews with the General Manager of Railways (Mr T. M. Hayward). '