RAILWAYS BOARD

Evening Post, Volume CXXVI, Issue 83, 5 October 1938, Page 15

RAILWAYS BOARD

"ECONOMY COMMITTEE"

LABOUR GOVERNMENT'S

TASK

d;y i t/iograph—Press Association.)

CARTERTON, This Day,

Reference was made by the Minister of Railways (the Hon. D. G. Sullivan), in a speech at Featherstoii last night, to the effect of the Railways Board's policy of curtailment of rolling stock.

On March 31, 1930, said the Minister, there were 662 engines in service. Between 1931 and 1936 only 49 new engines were built, but 131 were scrapped, so when the present Government resumed control of the railways there were actually 82 fewer • engines available to do, the work than were running in 193U In the two years since the present Government took the railways in hand 22 new engines had been built and 16 scrapped. The railway workshops were working to, capacity, but the figures which hp had quoted indicated that it had not yet been possible to recover all the leeway of the years when the Railways Board was, in effect, an economy committee. "There is a similar position in regard to wagons," continued Mr. Sullivan. "At March 31, 1931, there were 27,893 wagons running on the railways. From that date, and up to March 31, 1936. when the present Government Look

control, 2399 wagons were scrapped, but only 1338 were built to replace them. Since April 1, 1936, in the two years of control under the present Government, 1122 new wagons have been provided and 356 scrapped, a gain of 766 wagons. Thus the present Government inherited 1061 less wagons than were in stock in 1931, and had to set about the work of carrying more traffic and at the same time building up depleted fleets of locomotives and wagons to do so."

There were about 4.00 people present. The' Mayor, Mr. J. W. Card, presided.

The Minister was enthusiastically received, the meeting concluding with a vote of thanks and confidence, and cheers for the Government and for the Labour candidate for the district, Mr. B. Roberts. *