THE TRAMWAYS.

Dominion, Volume 2, Issue 502, 8 May 1909, Page 4

THE TRAMWAYS.

A SYDNEY VISITOR'S VIEW'S: • .Wheninterviewed . by , a Dominion representative, Mr. John Kneeshaw, Traffio Superintendent of the Now South Wales Government 1 Tramways, who has soon'service in the Now Zealand Railway Department, and 1 who; is paying a holiday -visitto tho Dominion. mado some interesting remarks on tho subject of tramways, supplementing tho interview published in Tub DomNioS •' od Wednesday last. : ; The first question touched upon was that of noisy cars. "That nuisance," said. Mr. Kneeshaw, - "is more or less incidental ui nearly all tramway systems.. .The trouble is accentuated in Wellington, as. in Sydney, owing to tho narrow streets and relatively high buildings on either side.. At the same timo tho . trouble: does occur through rail corrugation, which tho Wellington tramway authorities are endeavouring to meet in a •novel manner, and it remains:for tho future to. sliow if tho remedy iB effectual. Corrugation is a difficulty mot with in nearly overj important system in the world;.and there is. no more debated question'among tlio authorir ties concerned than this. If tno ,Wellington experiment proves 'a succcss, it will certainly bo. adopted elsewhere. ' In Sydney wo havo tlio samo corrugation, but not to tho. same extent as, here,. possibly owing to tho difforenoo in temperature."' Askod l about circular runs, Mr. Kneeshaw remarked that it was advisable to havo circular loops at the l busy termini. He thought ono would.\bo of immense advantage at the Govornmont, Station, instead of the shunting system. : ■; : : Spoaking of" conoossMi, tickets, the visitor said that they ;Woro not; usod -.in? Sydney, but .coupons were availed of to a limiwd extent. The coupqris were purchasable in' any quantity; and'were chiefly mado-'UFC of by largo business-firms,, as a cohvcbient way' of handihr tickets I 'to :■ messengers', instead . ,of cash. They: were ako availed of to some oxtont by the cadet forcd. i There was no reduction in prico,' except to school cadets;-So far as conoessiori tickets' aro oonoerned, the. Chief Commissioner, Mr. T. R. Johnsoh, had not considered it advisable to advocate their addition, as tho farw wore oonsidercd to bo sufficiently low' for all • requirements. Mr. Kneoslmw pointed out that concessions were not granted' to any. extent in the United Kingdom,'where the trams woro "mostly municipally owned, or in tho United Statos, where the 1 universal farowas 5 oents (2jd.). Moreover,:■ all tlio New Zealand systems were in thoiri infancy, and at no distant dato r» nowals ■ must be met. - With all respect hs offered tho suggestion that it was unwise to go in largoly ror concessions, seeing that the' working expenses must increase as the plant became worn 'out. Some of the grades were very 1 heavy in' Wellington, and some of tbo : curves were very Eharp, and the wear and tear on the track, overhead wires, motor equipment, etc., would necessarily bo heavy.-'- r '- '■ >'■' ■"'J'' Mr. Klieeshaw expressed the opinion that doublo-deckers -were very unsuitable for ft heavy and quick service. : They might be of use in outlying districts in fine weather, but for "pick-up" traffic in tlio city, they , wort not satisfactory, as too much timo was taken ■ at- eacli stopping-place, and for .tramway traffic to bo effective ■ onjy a limited time should bo allowed at each stop. Havo you attempted charging through fares on long-distaneollines at; rush hours? '"Yes;"- replied 'Mr; Kneeshaw, "but only on special, lines: It was not deemed desirable to adopt the system where a number of trams wore running along tho samo route before. diverging, as. tho profits «f the tramways largely depend on block-to-block traffic, or, in other words, penny fares. _ Thoro woro no restrictions ns to overloading,, although it was not pormitted to an unduo extent. Mr. Kneeshaw concluded by oommenting very favourably on the timo kept by tho Wellington cars. In Sydney, also, ho added, that desideratum was Attained. • The numbor of men employed on tho trams in Sydney is about 5000,! and between 630 and 650 oars are in daily use.