RAILWAY CHANGES.

Hawera Star, Volume XLVIII, 18 December 1924, Page 5

RAILWAY CHANGES.

BOARD OF MANAGEMENT. SECOND APPOINTMENT MADE., SUPERINTENDENT IN EACH ISLAND. (by TELEGRAPH—PRESS ASSOCIATION. mi XX WELLINGTON, Dec. 17. lie Hon. J G. Coates (Minister for Railways) made a further statement to-night with regard to the -reorganisa'imi ° i * Railway Department. * Ihe formation of a board of. manago-m?lrk-lias already been announced,” said Mr Coates, “but that will not result in any departure from the principle contained in the' Government Railways Act, which places the control of the railways and the Department entirely m the hands of the Minister. Meantime the board’s powers will be similar to those held by the general manager, and his assistants, but the results aimed at are decentralisation and the delegation of responsibilities and duties. Briefly, the managerial • department is now vested in a board of three members instead of being entirely in the hands of. one general, manager, liie whole of the correspondence dealin?- details of' the Department’s activities m various districts will be dealt with by-other controlling officers. , Mr James Mason, who has held the position of first assistant general manager since January last, has now' been selected to fill one. of the. two reuiaimng positions on the board. No definite decision ■ has yet been arrived at- with regard to the third position, but arrangements have been made carry on temporarily by the appointment of an acting member. “It has also been decided as part of the general decentralisation scheme to appoint two general superintendents “ 1G the North Island and one for the South Island, responsible directly to the board for operation of commercial matters and maintenance within each- island. The officers to fill these positions will be selected in the course °L a ,few days. . My object in giving ii , to t iese clia,l gcs now is to enable the complete reorganisation to be working smoothly and be brought into operation as from the commencement financial year on April 1 next. “So far as the report of the commissi™lß concerned,” added th© Minister, although I have had definie proposals in regard to many recommendations for some time; I do not propose to make a full statement of policy with regard to any matters dealt with .until such tim© as the complete report is released for publication.”