WELLINGTON TRAMWAYS

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 309, 23 September 1908, Page 8

WELLINGTON TRAMWAYS

SPEED AVERAGES. SOME INTERESTING COMPARISONS. Tho motto of tho man of .business is to " got there," with as little inconvenience and loss of time as tho ingenuity of scientific' genius will allow him. Orio of these days, when the aeroplane has killed a sufficient number of experimenters, and finally conceded a victory to science, he will take unto himself wings, and fly. But the time is not yet, and so lie has, perforce, to sit in gnawing impatience in those vehicles of transit which at present represent tho limitations of science.

In America tho trolly-cars carry their human freights along the tracks at an average rate of 20 miles an hour; Glaswegians aretransported more sedately ; the average speed per hour ' being 7.91 miles; Belfast is a trifle fastor,_ with an average. of 8.75 miles per hour; Liverpool and Leicester are satisfied with 8; while Manchester, more cautious still, maintains an average of 7.37; Hull is' evidently more pressed for time, for there we learn that the, average speed, per hour is 10 miles.

Rapid car transit is, of course, dependent alwnys upon local conditions. On the Continent, and in America, as well as in some of the British colonial cities, • where the, thoroughfares are wide, and-children are re-' strictcd from using the streets as playgrounds, a high average rate of speed with a minimum of risk can be obtained. Narrow streets, arid the consequent congested state ■of the heavy traffic,' make fast travelling im-, possible. ' In Wellington City itself the streets are narrow, and more ,or' less congested; the stop-sections arc very short in length; thero being, for example, no fewer than four stops between and including thd Bank of New Zealand and Woodward Street. On' the suburban lines the stop-sections are larger, and a higher speed average 'is possible. The maximum speed limit-on the less congested double track car thoroughfares, like Newtown, Fcatherstori Street, and Jervois Quay, is 15 miles .per hour. On the less congested single lines the maximum is 12 miles. Kilbirnio and Island Bay are ' permitted • a maximum of. 15 miles, while Miramar may "scorch," on occasion, at an exhilarating 18 miles per hour. - . But the cars do not average these by any means. Crowded thoroughfares, frequent stops, difficult grades, and the, official timetable all. combine to considerably reducc tho averago- speeds, which compare very favour-, ably with those of other' places. According to the official schedule of sections drawn up by the City Tramways Department, it would appear that the best averago is that on the Kilbirnie-Government station line, where an average of it). 2 miles is maintained ; Miramar is a shade slower, 10.12 miles, but this is probably accounted for by thd fact that thero is a difference of 12 minutes in the timetablo run from the city boundary to tho Miramar terminus. The following- tablo sets forth'very clearly the position of affairs on tho various lines: —

• i •* 1 = T . * ®u. Line. . • . 0 o .' X '= o tl) 0 ' -P cj ,'' c. . £ - ' ®;S Kilbirnic-Govt. Station ...... 354 26 10.2 Miramar-Govfr.- Station '513 38 10.12 Seatoun-Govt. Station 470 37 -9.52 Island Bay-Govt. Station..... 418 33 9.5 Constable St.-Govt. Station' 264 23 8.6 Oriental• Jky-Th'n'd'n ■ Quay 270 23 8,51 ;Aro' Strcet-Govt. Station ... 159 14-J 8.18 Newtown-Tinakori Road ... 380 35 8.14 Karori-Newtown 519 47} 7.3 • Brooklyn-Manners Street ... 133 15 6.6

The Wallace Street-Manners Street and Ingqstreand Cuba Strcet ; Gov£rnnient Station sections more or . less overlap. The average speed on these lines'is'B.7 miles'pir hour.