RAIL TRAVELLERS

Evening Post, Volume CXXXVIII, Issue 129, 28 November 1944, Page 6

RAIL TRAVELLERS

CATERING SERVICE

IMPRESSIVE FIGURES

Aspects of the present system of catering for railway travellers in New Zealand were dealt with by Mr G Turkington, chief clerk of the refreshment branch of the Railways Department, in a statement made to the Railways Industrial Tribunal yesterday afternoon in connection with the claims of the Railway Officers' Institute.

The refreshment branch, said Mr. Turkington, had been established as a separate entity of the Department in 1917. . The reason was that at that time the catering for passengers travelling by rail was undertaken in dining cars on the principal express services, and in privately-leased refreshment rooms at selected stations for the secondary services, but neither method was satisfactory. Limited seating accommodation in the dining cars, inadequacy of the cooking facilities, the narrow gauge and the speed of trains militating against dining in reasonable comfort, the dining car service being uneconomic, the desirability of replacing the dining cars with passenger cars, and the fact that the privatelyleased refreshment room service left much to be desired, gave the Department little alternative to the establishment of the refreshment branch to bring about a general improvement. The dining cars were taken off the trains, and as the leases of the refreshment rooms expired, the refreshment branch took them over and thereafter operated them. The adoption of a progressive policy of modernisation and re-equipment of the rooms quickly ensured a much more satisfactory standard of catering and service, while the financial results improved beyond the most sanguine expectations. COMPARISON IN REVENUE. In 1924, said Mr. Turkington, the gross revenue of the branch was £96,000, its staff was 240, and it controlled 18 refreshment rooms and the catering on the lake steamers. This year its gross revenue was £604,556, its staff totalled 646, and it controlled \ 3B refreshment rooms, 17 book stalls, and two hairdressing rooms. It was estimated that in the year ended March 31, 1944, 10,679,000 customers patronised the refreshment rooms, 5,021,000 patronised the book stalls, and 375,029 pillows were hired. The return to the Department in respect of the refreshment rooms, book stalls, and pillowhire service was 18 per cent, of the gross revenue. All the services were highly profitable. In reply to Dr. W. B. Sutch, a member of the taibunal, witness said that the branch carried a proportion of overhead costs and made adequate ' provision for reserves. In 20 years the staff had increased by two and a-half times, while gross revenue had increased sixfold. The prices of food to the public had been practically the same for many years. There had not been any increase during the war. i To Mr. E. Casey, a member of the tribunal, witness said that by far the .greater proportion of the increase in gross revenue from £269,486 in 1939 to £604,556 in 1944 was due to war conditions, including restrictions on road travel, troops travelling, and overseas personnel being in the country. In the 15 years to 1939 the revenue had increased by less than three times. The figures could be taken as a reasonable indication of the lines of normal future progress if war influences were excluded. The remaining senior officers who made statements yesterday and today on the functions of their branches were the Commercial Manager, Mr. H. C. Langford, the assistant superintendent and the staff assistant (traffic) in the of road services, Mr. J. K. Goodley, staff division, Mr. J. A. Martin. In the course of his statement Mr. Martin said that among the essentials of the safe working of the railway system were good eyesight and colour perception by members of the traffic, maintenance, and locomotive operating branches. The Department employed an officer for the purpose of periodically testing the vision and colour perception of those employees. He was continually touring New Zealand, and it took him approximately two years to examine the whole staff. Any member whose vision was found to have deteriorated on examination approximately every two years was examined by a railway medical officer, and, if necessary, removed from duties connected with the running of trains.

" The first of the actual witnesses for the Railway Officers' Institute today was"the chief clerk in the Chief Engineer's office, Wellington, Mr. B. Tangney, who outlined the duties and responsibilities of the clerical members in graded positions, grade 6 and above, in the maintenance branch.

(Proceeding.)