GREAT SERVICE

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume LXXII, 23 November 1938, Page 10

GREAT SERVICE

NEW ZEALAND RAILWAYS FARES AND FREIGHT RATES MAY BE INCREASED I United Press Association! WELLINGTON, This Day. The contribution made by the railways to the development and general welfare of New Zealand was emphasised by the Prime Minister, Mr Savage, when asked during an interview last evening if an increase in railway passenger fares and freight jrates were contemplated as a means of eliminating the present railway operatj ing losses. Mr Savage said that the railj way service was one of the few services that had not increased its charges. So far, the Government had done nothing about them. "The present scale of railway charges has operated for many years,’* said Mr Savage. “We have been improving the service all along the line, and have not increased fares and freights. However, it is pretty obvious we cannot keep on that way for ever. Nobody ever talks of a good road being a drag on industry, and the resources of the country, and if that argument is sound in the case of a highway I don’t see why it does not apply with equal force to our railway system.” Mr Savage said that inhabitants in j all parts of the country had asked for railway communications. Since the j Government had been in office it had i had demands for the completion of j lines that had been begun and j stopped, and for the continuation of ! existing lines. Apparently the people I asking ior these lines considered them j economic propositions. When the I Taneatua-Opotiki line was completed 1 the farmers in the districts served by jit would have better facilities for the j transport of their stock and produce, j quite apart from the general incentive I R would give to development. He quot- ; ed that line merely as an illustration j °f the value? of the railway system. In some places motor services may be advisable. but these should serve as feeders to the railway system. NATIONAL VALUE OF SERVICE "Who could estimate the value that has been created by the railway system?” asked Mr Savage. "I suppose it would run into millions. Certainly it has never been reflected in any railway balance-sheet. When the men on the railways receive anything there arc : people who say the railways can't 1 carry the increase, but when some ; people make fortunes out of the values ' created by the railways nobody ap- j pears to wo^fy “Our railway system is New Zea- ! land’s greatest social service. The development of New Zealand was made possible by the railways, the roads and the then existing forms of transport As with other things, the scientist has imnroved in various ways the means of transport. I am not foolish enough to say we should stick to the old idea, but when we talk of the railway s.vs- j tern and whether it is a payable pro- | position or not. we should take into I account what the railways mean to this country If there are better* forms of transport we should have I them, but for certain classes of work the railways stand alone. Even today I would shudder to think what the position would be if the railways stood still.”