A BIG PROBLEM

Evening Post, Volume XCII, Issue 108, 3 November 1926, Page 15

A BIG PROBLEM

RAILWAYS AND ROAD TRMTI€

THE EFFECT OF COMPEI

POSITION AT PALMERSTON NORTH

(By "Jeff.") -,

jfixperience at Palmerston North proves -conclusively that buses have made.a.material difference to the busi- ■ lies* of the Railway Department over the shorter distances. As a result of - the bus service between; Palmerston '.- North and Foxton, the trains have lost '" a, majority' of the passengers on that line!- Particularly has this been so in • • rfhe"ease of first-class passengers, who / have shown a decided preference for the buses; which not only run at firstclass' railway fares, but pick up pas-' sengers at various points, and drop them whore they want to go. To an-\ increasing extent, this is the age of luxury, and people generally will not walk when'they can ride. A five minutes' walk from the Post Office -t Palmerston North to the railway station, especially on a wot day, i* sufficient to deter very many people from making use of the trains. They prefer to board a bus in the Square, even if they have to pay a little more for the privilege. A striking instance of the-disinclination of the public to inconvenience themselves in anyway, was provided in '.-. Palmerston North" last summer. In order to encourage Palmerston North people to,^ spend a day at the seaside, the Railway. Department ran a special Sunday train to Foxton. The.' return :' fare on the train was 2s Bd, plus 2s for carriage from the station at Foxton to thebeachr —is 8d for a day at the seaj side. Immediately'the buses put on a ' service,* at a return fare of 6s Bd, covering transport from the Square to the beach,.. Strangely enough, the bus service ..flourished and the train service languished, to such an extent that it •was not considered' advisable to, maintain it, and" it.is very unlikely that Sunday trains'to Foxton will figure in , the railway programme this summer. In the daily service to Foxton, the Railway Department has also b-en very hard hit.; The buses, oh the other hand, are carrying on a more or less successful business. To a lesser extent the above, remarks apply, to the Feilding run. "This is" another short trip which many people" prefer'to-make in the buses. With much justice on their side, the Railway Department argues that ,as they were the pioneers so far as the Foxton and Feilding services are concerned, they.should have tho right to carry on those, services under conditions that will not result in a loss in revenue. THE DEPARTMENT AS BITSOWNERS. In. view of the competition which exists, it is interesting to find that . the Railway Department is considering the question of owning buses and using them for the short runs, which are at present becoming non-revenue producing so far as the train services are eon-'-.cerned. : - The Department has decided .. to institute a bus service between Hastings and Napier, this apparently being '..'the-only 'way in.which the road'eompctition .provided by private enterprise can be met satisfactorily. An extension of this policy may bo anticipated, and it is very likely that before very long the Railway Department will be running a bus service between Palmerston North and Foxton, and between Palmerston North and Feilding. The policy of running bus; services was forecasted by the Minister oi^ Railways (the Right Hon. J. G. Coates), in his last statement to Parliament. After, discussing various aspects of the problem, the Minister said:— The question then arises as to \ whether the Railway Department ' should hand over the traffic to a - competitor by road or should ■ itself, undertake the' transport of the goods by means of road vehicles. Cases have already como'under my notice, and particularly.' in connection witfi the casual- traffic between the peak loads in-the morning and evening on ■; short- runs,, when undoubtedly, the, work now being performed by the Railway Department could be more ■ cheaply performed by road vehicles, and. I.therefore desire to state as a declaration of my personal policy that whenever this can be done I proposo ' 'that the Railway -Department shall .-undertake the work, either itself or by^ arrangement with private enter- ""' prise. In doing so I recognise that it may be said that the Railway Department is trenching on the field of private enterprise, but a careful an:. •.lysis of the situation seems to me to show clearly the fallacy of this ; argument. The traffic, in the first 1 place, was railway traffic, and in keep- '[■ ing the traffic to itself the Railway ;': Department'isbut holding, what has always been'its own and is not taking the traffic that originally bclong-•di-to private carriers. The advantage*, of la.rge-scale work have up to '■. thoi present lain with the railways be- ■ -cause of the' extent of their field of operation, and I think the same considerations, though possibly in n less degree, might be held to justify the Railway Department in endeavouring .to undertake at least such road transport work as will enable it to reduce its working costs.-- -"' • 'Future developments of the policy of , the Railway Department will be watch- ■- ed with interest. SERVICE CARS. /-. It will bo seen that so far as the ,■ shorter distances are concerned, the . Railway,. Department is "up against \; it," and. is doing its best to meet the position. Competition over longer distances,, however, will be more difficult ito meet, as it is not very likely that the Department will branch out to the cx- . tent of running service cars all over the '■';; country. Service cars, of course, do 1 not. provide such competition for the :.' railways as the buses, as" their aecom- ••'•■• modation is naturally limited, the lnrg- ' est type of car not carrying more than' eight or nine passengers. However, the •fact remains that the Railway Depart- -■ ihent is losing quite a number of,firstclass passengers over tho long distances, '•,' although second-class traffic has not .:;;■-,Jheen_affec^ci.to:.any. great extent. In !;;.J;_(aiirjfeTespdrctS:rservrcc cars havendvant-- '•'• u'gei over the train. In most cases they are quicker, and with business men this is an advantage. Leaving Palmerston North for New Plymouth at tho same' time as the train, the scr-

ITION

One of the biggest problems facing the New Itealand Railway Department at the present time is the competition Which exists between the railways and traffic by road. That serilous inroads have been made in the Department's revenue as a Tcsulfc of competition has been admitted by the Government, and consideration is being given to steps that might be taken to meet the position. The effects of road competition have been very keenly ftelt at Palmerston North, t which, as ono of the biggest railway centtres in New Zealand, niay be taken as a reliable guide for the Dominion as a whole. .'■'-'. I

vice cars land tlieir passengers at their destination in ifccie for dinner, an hour and a half aheajdof .the train. In point of safety and comfort, however, the trains probably! hold an advantage. CARRIAGE OF GOODS. In the carriage of goods, tho Railway iDepartment is > more than holding its own with competitors by road, although a year or so ligo the position was not

nearly'so 'satisfactory. Experiences at Palmerston; North may again bo quoted with advantage.- Forsome time the increasing preference of the farmers of the district to make use of facilities provided _dV tho carriage of goods by road had ;fc. serious effect on the Department's: revenue, and caused officials to do soihej. hard thinking.' Two years ago 25: per cent, of tlie wool sent from Palmerst^nij North to Wellington was carried by Toad where once it aU.went i. by rail. Naturally, this shortage greatly reduced': revenue, and the Railway Board decifled that the time had arrived when a* little publicity work would not "be; out'of tho way. A systematic canvas of the producers in the Manawatu district was arranged and carried out, steps being taken to impress on the producers tho desirability of sending their {goods by rail. A scale of charges far shipping tho wool right from the jßarm to the stores in Wellington was) drawn up, rates-varying, of course, in proportion to the... distances which the floods had to bo carried. Personal interviews ' with the farmers brought the* desired results, tho Railway. Department recovering all tho lost traffic with Hhe exception of about 1 per cent.; which still gees by road. That achievement reflects considerable cre-dit-on the Kail way Department, and reveals the advantages of carrying on a Government Department on bushier lines. . : ] ;' A QUESTION OF ECONOMICS. In view of the importance of the problem of road competition, general remarks made 'by the Minister of Railways on thje question will bo read with interest, Qe said;: "The whole question, of- course, resolves itself into one of economics, and if transport can be carried on'more economically by road, then undoubtedly the business will go by road; but it is necessary in considering this aatter from the point of vi?w of a.Government policy affecting tho

railways to regard it, not as tho road carriers and their customers almost invariably do—namely, from the point of view of individual interest—but rather from the point of View of what is best for the community as.a whole. The difference between thc'ac two points of view is very material in deciding the policy, because tho . community owns the-railways, and Begard must there-. .fore bo had by tho community to the. capital that has beem sunk in the railways. It must, not be forgotten that, generally speaking, the railway rollinjjj stock is available to do, the work that is being performed by road and is lying idle when that work is diverted to road transport. A community must, there fore, make duo allowance for this capital and. foi'. : ihc : plant.that has been "prb'v'idtd 'm'-making coenpa'fisons of relative costs as between road and railway transport. But Hf, after making these allowances,, it is'still found that transport by road is the more economical, then there can tie no justification

for doing other than utilising the read transport for such traffic. j"n other words, even if the traffic is available for the Railway Department, it seem 3 to me that if it can be dealt with moro cheaply by road transport the proper course is to deal with it by that method." "NOT ANTAGONISTIC." "I do not regard road and rail transport as necessarily antagonistic," he said. "Undoubtedly road transport has come in as a new factor and has its rightful place in our economic life. That place must be conceded it in any policy that has regard to the true economic interests of tho community, but equally in such policy must road transport be kept within its proper sphere. If this is done the position is not one of antagonism, but one of co-operation and. co-ordination. I can conceive no hotter medium for co-ordinating the transport work of the community than that organisation which has already been charged with that work or the greater portion of it—namely, the; railways. There%will still under this policy be a large field for private enterprise in those portions of tho country where it would be no'" great saving to the railways to. undertake . transport work by road. Such occasions occur to me as transport on roads that are feeders to the railway. There is, I believe, sufficient outlet for tlie energies . of those who desire to adopt that class of business for many years to come... The railways are ever willing to cooperate in the fullest measure with any such persons to facilitate their business as far as the Department may do so and generally to co-ordinate their, efforts so as to reduce working costs and give better service."