TRAMWAYS NEGLECTED

Evening Star, Issue 26031, 20 February 1947, Page 5

TRAMWAYS NEGLECTED

LOAN OPPONENTS ON THE PLATFORM Opponents of the proposed trolly bus loan who are city councillors addressed an audience in the South Dunedin Town Hall last night. It was alleged by Cr W. A. Hudson that the tramway system had been allowed to fall into its present state through a policy of deliberate neglect. The speakers were not opposed to the trolly buses, but to the complete scrapping of the tramways, as they considered that modern trams should be run on some of the main routes in conjunction with a trolly bus service on some of the minor routes. He claimed that modern trams were equal to,' and in some ways superior to, trolly buses. He then went on to criticise the use of ratepayers' money for advertising the poll, and claimed that a report from the transport manager had not been circulated to' all members of the council. The present estimated cost of rehabilitating the tramways _ was about three times that of Sir William Goodman’s estimate, and Cr Hudson asserted that it was not the first time that the opinion of experts had been disregarded when they did not suit the ideas of some- councillors. If three alternatives were offered by the ballot papers—trolly buses, a composite system, or rehabilitation of the present tramways—he had no doubt that the composite proposal would prove the most attractive.

Cr D. G. McMillan challenged the figures which had been drawn up to show that running costs could be reduced, and that a greater profit could be made from a trolly bus service, saying that if anything the complete change-over would result in increased fares and higher rates. The Albert street extension was an excellent scheme, he said, but should not have been included in the loan scheme. Its inclusion had been in order to persuade people living on the hill to vote

for the loan. There was no doubt that the rehabilitation of the tramways was necessary, but a balance had to be struck between what they would like and what they could afford, and a composite system was,the answer.