RAILWAY PROBLEMS

Evening Post, Volume CXVIII, Issue 8, 10 July 1934, Page 11

RAILWAY PROBLEMS

U.S.A. AND CANADA

WASTEFUL COMPETITION

(By Telegraph)

(Special to the "Evening Post.")

AUCKLAND, July 9.

Transport problems in the United States and Canada were reviewed by Sir James Gunson, a member of the New Zealand Railways Board, who returned by the Niagara; today after abusiness trip to America..

As in New Zealand, Sir James said, the railways were faced with intensive development of road transport. An additional factor that had not become apparent to the same extent in New Zealand was the advance iv air services.

"In the matter of transport control for the removal of wasteful and uneconomic competition, legislative measures iv the United States and Canada are not as far advanced as they are in New Zealand," Sir James said.- "In both the United States and Canada a difficult situation obtains—fortunately absent in New Zealand—in competitive railway systems and overlapping of services. In the -United States particularly air services have eatcu into rail passenger traffic with a faro schedule practically the same as railway rates.'? In Ca y da the railway position was nothing ~,iort of disastrous, Sir James continued. There was considerable overlapping of the two main systems, and at the end of 1933 the public.funds invested and the Government- guarantees in the State-owned " system amounted to £724,000,000, with" the figure increasing annually. That sum, paying no interest, was practically double the amount of the entire Government debt in New Zealand for all purposes. The nation was thoroughly alarmed, and conversations were tending in the direction of a merger of the two systems.

The National Hallways administration during the past four years had built a large hotel at Vancouver, a centre already provided with ample hotel accommodation. More than £1,000,000 had been spent already, and .the interior of the building was not complete. A further £ 1,000,000 would be required to finish and equip the building, and the money was not available. This was a striking lesson against wasteful expenditure and needless duplication of services.