More traffic with fewer men

Press, 24 March 1977, Page 13

More traffic with fewer men

Through modern equipment, improved methods and hard work, New Zealand Railways was moving more and more traffic with fewer staff, the general manager (Mr T. M. Hayward) told the Rotary Club of Lyttelton. Mr Hayward said he believed that in the face of various challenges, publiclyowned railways had acquitted themselves well. In the last four years, goods traffic had grown by 31 per cent. Over the same period the number of neti tonne kilometres per man employed had increased by 24 per cent.

Today the staff level was 300 below the staff ceiling, and 500 below what it was 12 months ago. In spite of a serious shortage of skilled tradesmen and other groups in key areas, tonnages being moved this year showed a further increase of 4 to 5 per cent on last year.

Profit had not been as good, he said. Rates were frozen from November. 1971, as a Government stabilisation measure, and operating losses were able to be kept within 5 per cent of expenditure until 1975. In that year, said Mr Hay-

ward, rapidly inflating costs took their toll and boosted the operating loss to S4SM or 23 per cent of expenditure, and to S63M in 1976. The Railways would not break even in this financial year. The Government had approved two goods rate and passenger fare increases, but they had not been effective for the full 1977 financial year.

Already an additional wage bill of 59.4 M was being faced from the recent 6 per cent general wage order, and other costs increases were imminent, he said. However, despite this, the operating result this year would be far below the S3IM budgeted in the vote, he said.

The developing petroleum fuel crisis over the next quarter century meant major increases in transport costs were likely to be faced. Electrification of railways offered one solution as it would allow almost any energy source to be used, from coal to nuclear power. Rail, he said, made relatively little demand on energy. Studies had shown that rail used less than onethird of the energy needed

for a tonne-kilometre on the road. Growing concern for the quality of life would also have some influence on the

pattern of transport. By using rail for long distance goods traffic, the social and environmental costs of transport could be kept down.