RAILWAY ECONOMIES

Evening Post, Volume CVIII, Issue 154, 27 December 1924, Page 8

RAILWAY ECONOMIES

HOW SAVINGS CAN BE

EFFECTED

TOO MANY WORKSHOPS

The possibility of great savings being effected 'in the administration of the New Zealand Railways by reducing the number of locomotive workshops in the Dominion and by using imported coal is referred to in the report of the Railway Commissioners (Sir Sam Fay and Sir Vincent Raven).

The Commissioners remark that it ■would appear that the shopa at Petone .and Addington could ■ deal. -with ■ the whole of ■ the necessary locomotive repairs in the two Islands, and that, assuming this to be so, it would be possible to dispense with the services of some nine hundred men, representing a saving of ' about £200,000 per annum. This, they state, is borne out also by comparing the repair staff employed per 100,000 engine miles in New Zealand with one of the large railway groups' of Great Britain. They publish in the report a table showing that if the Great Britain basis was applied in the Dominion the staff could be reduced by '899 men, ' This table shows that the number of staff employed per 100,000 engine miles in the Dominion is 15.43 in New Zealand, as compared with 8.21 in the railway group referred to. As the locomotive staff in New Zealand totals 1921 men, this number should therefore be reducible by almost one-half; The Commissioners point out that this clearly indicates that great saving is possible in the locomotive workshops in New Zealand, even* without taking into consideration expenditure upon new machinery and reorganisation of the existing shops, and that if the latter were carried out a further saving should be effected. Obviously, the rearrangement of the staff would have to take place by degrees, to avoid hardship to those displaced. "In our opinion," the Commissioners remark, "reorganisation of the existing methods should be put in force at an early date, and modern' machinery procured."

ANTIQUATED REPAIR METHODS.

In some general remarks upon repairs and renewals, the Commissioners state that the most suitable and economical method of dealing with repairs and renewals would be to have two works built—one for the North and one for the, South Island—in a convenient position, with ample yard accommodation, and' laid out so as to pass the stock through when being repaired or built without twice handling it. These shops should also be arranged on a site and in such a way as to be capable of enlargement without undue expense when necessity arose. As this/ however, would mean a large expenditure in money, and take a considerable time in selecting suitable positions and designing the best lay-ouV it did not appear a reasonable proposal ■without a recommendation ast'o how the repairs and renewals should be at once dealt with, so as" to bring the costs down: to a more reasonable basis. "In the North Island the shops at Napier, Whangarei, and East Town, so-far as locomotive work was concerned, might be closed down, the necessary repairs being carried out at Petone and Newmarket. In the South Island, Greymouth and Invercargill should be closed for locomotive work, repairs being undertaken at Addington and Hillside. The present methods of carrying out repair work in the shops were very antiquated. It would be well to concentrate on repairs and to purchase locomotives rather than build in the existing shops, which were not laid out for doing this economically. . :

COAL SAVINGS.

On the question of coal consumption, the Commissioners state that the Chief Mechanical Engineer declared in evidence that Welsh coal was far better than any ha could get either in Australia or in New Zealand, and that his experience showed that theve would be a saving of 30 per cent. in. coal consumption by using that particular fuel. The Commissioners comment that as it would appear that Welsh coal could be procured at practically the same price as Newcastle coal, and if the reduction anticipated by the Chief Engineer was realised, there would be a saving of some £200,000 per annunv on the purchase .of the. Welsh coal. No doubt the Mechanical Engineer would give due consideration, after careful trials, to the extent to which it was possible economically to use New Zealand coal. • -■-,-■

The report also states t*iat it is quite obvious that engine drivers are not worked to the best possible advantage, and that a revision of time-tables is necessary. It was found on ex&mination of their tickets that numerous occasions occurred when engine drivers filled up their day in washing out, cleaning of engines, etc.; having regard to the rates of wages paid to these employees, this appeared to be an expensive matter.