RAILWAY BRETHREN

Evening Post, Volume CXVIII, Issue 55, 3 September 1934, Page 10

RAILWAY BRETHREN

MR MACKLEY IN AUSTRALIA

;.." ''Railwaymen. in 'New Zealand have always thought well of their Australian neighbours', and this/feeling is very ' warmly .' reciprocated. - In' this 'sentence" the General Manager of Bailways, Mr. G. H. Mackley, in his monthly message in the "New Zca- ' laud .Bailways Magazine," records one '. of the .impressions arising from his trip ' toi Australia, where he attended the conference" of Commissioners of the Australian and Now Zealand Railways"lt was very pleasing to find the high regard in which the railway services of the Dominion aro held by representative Australians who havo travelled in this- country-. The consensus of favourable opinion expressed by them was confirmed by tho heads of the various Australian railways whom I met at ■the conference. It is clear that railway developments in New" Zealand.are closely watched by our confreres across 1 he' Tasman,'and that reports, o,f railway' practice, here arc viewed with' interest and respect., I wish to acknowledge gratefully tho very real assistance given mo by Australian- railwaymen i.F. regard to their own lines. Information of every kind regarding tlio. Australian 'railways was placed freely at my disposal, and T am sure that nothing coukl ■ have exceeded the courtesy and friend- . liness of thi\ Commissioners of. the Australian States and their-executive oijri- , enr's r.owards tlio New Zealand repre---1 sntntivß. . . . That such an attitude exists is distinctly promising, for the close'association of the two countries in ■ trade and industry and tho similarity •in certain1 respects of thoir transport problems, makes an interchange of views and collaboration between the various railway executives in regard to tho'niore technical aspects of rail-road-•ing a matter1 of mutual advantage and benefit to the two countries."

.Mr. Maekley also states: —"Having now almost completed my. general survey of departmental operations, during which I have travelled over seven thousand miles by rail-car, and made a comprehensive personal inspection of the whole railway service, I think'the present is an appropriate time to state that the general standard maintained in all branches of the Department ,is distinctly high. At some points features were revealed where improvements could with advantage be made, and the necessary action has, of course, been taken; buE in view of the wide ramifications- of a service which employs fifteen thousand workers and deals with all kinds of business relations as well as with tho greater part of the travelling public, those instances .were rcmavkably few."'