TRAMWAY REVENUE

Dominion, Volume 35, Issue 138, 7 March 1942, Page 6

TRAMWAY REVENUE

Petrol Cuts Bring Rise Not only iu Wellington, but also in all centres where there are electrical tramway systems, the restrictions in petrol supplies have brought about a considerable accession in revenue. In Wellington, where so many people used their own cars as daily transport, tramcars are overcrowded morning, noon and night. People are no longer brusquely' ordered off tram platforms, for the simple reason that asji rule there is no standing room inside the car, and it is a platform ride or no ride at all.

This accession of revenue is welcome in some quarters, where services have either been running at a loss or nearly so. At the same time heavy expenditure faces some of the systems. In Wellington, sooner or later, the main t racks through the .city will have to be reconstructed. That does not mean merely the re-laying of rails. It goes deeper than that. In the case of Willis Street, Manners Street, and Courtenay Place it is considered likely that Hie track foundations may have to be renewed, a work of considerable magnitude with so difficult to secure. Indeed, it. seems likely that Wellington will have to make the best of the position during tlie war by simply doing maintenance work as at present, as sufficient labour is unavailable to tackle a big job of track reconstruction economically. The duplication of the track in ParkRoad, Miramar, completed only a few weeks ago. lias helped in car manipulation in that quarter.