SHORTAGE OF WAGGONS.

Hawera Star, Volume XLVIII, 31 December 1924, Page 3

SHORTAGE OF WAGGONS.

QUITE UNNECESSARY. COMMISSION’S OPINION. Reference to the shortage of waggons On the New Zealand Railways is made in the Commission’s report. The Commissioners state: There have been some complaints of shortage of waggons: This should not be, having' regard to the. number of waggons available. There are. in New Zealand, according to the last railway report, 26,195 waggons , and brake vans for the conveyance of 6,925,517 tons of goods. In New South Wales there are, for. 5317 miles of line and 13,801,310 tons of goods, 23,897 waggons. In Queensland, . 4,208,989 tons of goods are conveyed in 15,364 waggons. South Australia, with 9833 waggons, conveyed 3,253,594 tons; and Western Australia, with 10,20 S waggons, carried 3,006,063 tons of goods. The average capacity of the waggons is, as to New Zealand, 9.57 tons; New South Wales, 14.9 tons; Victoria, 13.6 tons; Queensland, 9.2.0 tons; South Australia, 9.6 tons; and Western Australia, 10.36 tons. The detached sections of Hue in New Zealand call, no doubt, for more waggons than would be sufficient if the North and South Islands were linked up by railway, and the. isolated sections on both islands were connected with the main lines. There is also the variation of commodities and quantities to be taken into consideration when comparing one State railway with another, but, after giving full credit for these, differences, there does appear to be quite enough waggons for the tonnage in New Zealand, and complaint should not arise if waggon distribution is well and speedily regulated. It is unfortunate that no statistics are collected of waggon demand ancl supply, as these would enable the position to be focused more clearlv. It is said that waggons are held up by traders, but we do not think there is more reason to complain of this than in the States with which comparison is made. In any case, delay in discharge of waggons can be met by charging demurrage after a certain time.

Waggon control'is exercised bv the traffic .managers, who have an allocation of so many waggons for their respective districts. 'When- a shortage arises in one district, appeal is made to the neighbouring district. In theory, assuming the allocation to each district is correct in proportion to the tonnage and haul, the system should function satisfactorily. It has been found, however, that- where a similar arrangement has obtained, there lias developed a tendency to bold up empty waggons in a district for fear of being short later on. Under modern practice, and as the result of experience, the control of rvaggohs is in the hands of a central office with sub-control. We recommend that, with the appointment of general superintendents for each island, this si stem be adopted. With the connecting up of the detached sections of line the position should further be improved, and there should be no demand for additional waggons, apart from specialities, for some years to come. Theie are no statistics of average loads, but waggon loads appear to be light. We mention the possibility, in onr remarks under “Rates and Pares,” of increasing the weights by minimum load rates. There is in some dishicts unbalanced waggon mileage. This is so, more or less, in every country, and it needs very careful watching with a view to minimising it as far as possible.