NEW RAILWAYS

Evening Post, Volume LXXXVIII, Issue 57, 4 September 1914, Page 2

NEW RAILWAYS

<*» WHAT THE GENERAL MANAGER SAYS. " The arrangements under which new railways are authorised and built in the Dominion are, I would respectfully suggest, capable of considerable improvement. At the present time a new line is undertaken without any consultation with the Railway Department, and- in consequence the only official estimate available before the country is committed j to additional expenditure is the Public Works Engineer's estimate of the cost of ! construction. The Department which will ultimately take over and work the . new railway is not consulted as to the route, grades, and alignment, nor are the plans submitted to it before the new line is commenced. No estimate is ob- i taineel from the Railway Department as to the cost of building the additional i rolling stock required. No estimate is made of the annual cost in 'the shape of working expenses, and no figures are prepared by thq, Railway Department as to the prooable revenue from the proposed line, therefore no reliable calculation can be made as to whether the net revenues will represent a profit or a loss." — Extract from the report of the General Manager of Railways presented to Parliament last night. |