RAILWAYS BOARD

Evening Star, Issue 21073, 9 April 1932, Page 8

RAILWAYS BOARD

■ ♦ TOUR OF OTAGO DISTRICT INSPECTION OF BRANCH LINES “ There is no doubt that the coming year will be a difficult one for the whole dominion, and the board feels that much has already been done towards lowering the general cost level. With united effort on the part of the whole community the present difficulties should soon be overcome, and generous support of the board by patronage of its services will have a result which the board believes will be in the interests of the country as a whole, and will assist considerably in rehabilitating trade and commerce in the dominion. 1 ' So stated Mr H. H. Sterling, the chairman, on the return of the Railway Board to Dunedin last night after paying a visit of inspection to the Outram and Tahakopa branches. The other members of tho Railway Board are Sir James Gunson, Messrs G. W. Reid, D. Reese, and E. Newman. The party left for Cromwell this morning, and after studying conditions in Central Otago will go on to Queenstown, departing again on Monday to inspect the Mossburn and Hcdgehope branches. Tuesday will be devoted to the Bluff, Tuatapere, and Nightcaps lines. Wednesday to the Waimahaka, Wyndham, and Waikaka branches, and Thursday to tho Tapanui and Roxburgh districts. The party will leave for Christchurch on the following morning. Regarding tho board's visit, Mr Sterling stated that it was intended to make a complete inspection of the whole railway system as soon as the opportunity offered, and on the present tour the board proposed inspecting all lines from Dunedin to Bluff, including Central Otago and the Lake Wakatipu steamers. Tho object was not only to familiarise itself with the system, but to make tho greatest measure of personal contact between tho members of the board and representatives of tho various districts in New Zealand. Tho board was anxious to gauge as accu-rately-as possible the needs of the residents of the parts of the dominion that were served by rail. In its journeyings the board had met many people and had received many valuable suggestions that it believed would enable it to give a still higher standard of service. One particular problem facing the board was that of branch lines, and the main thought of the members was to do nothing hastily and to spare no effort to gather the fullest possible information before coming to any decision regarding these services. The board realised that with circumstances so various affecting branch lines no general conclusion could be come to that would be applicable to every line, and it felt, therefore, that it would be able to deal with the position much more satisfactorily by supplementing the data collected through the departmental organisation, with a personal inspection of the various lines and discussion with the people interested. Commenting on the results achieved up to the present time, Mr Sterling said that the board was aiming to get production costs down to the lowest possible figure consistent with a satisfactory standard of service. It appreciated that there was a definite demand for a high quality of service and that it would be false economy to obtain a reduction of expenditure at the sacrifice of this standard; but much, however, had already been done in pursuance of the policy outlined. Tho end of tho present year showed a reduction of expenditure of approximately £1,250,000, as compared with the previous year, and this, added to tho reduction effected last year of £500,000 compared with 1930, revealed that in two years a reduction of expenditure of approximately £1,750,000 had been achieved. Moreover, this had, as the board believed, been effected without any sacrifice as regarded the standard of service. Indeed, the board had received expressions of satisfaction from many people who desired to let it know that they appreciated what it was doing. The new carriages on the express trains in the South Island had been the subject of much eulogistic comment, and favourable reference had also been made to the high standard of efficiency achieved in the restoration of the services interrupted by the floods at Otaio. The track and rolling stock had been brought up to a good standard, so that trains were running with reliability and despatch.