RAILWAY MISMANAGEMENT.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XIX, Issue 6394, 16 May 1882, Page 3

RAILWAY MISMANAGEMENT.

TO THE KuIVUH. Sir,—ln a former letter 1 showed the very great inconvenience which our present railway time-table entails on the public, as also the insufficiency in the number of trains to meet the requirements of the traffic, and last, but by no means least, the unpunctuality in the running of the trains, causing the most serious and exasperating delays, , a matter of daily occurrence. I wish now to say a few words about the new tariff. Railway tariffs are usually based upon a mileage rate, but in the Auckland district all established rules on this point are ignored. Let me give an example of the manner in which our tariff is Jbased. Beginning at a siding called Ohinewai, and terminating at Te Awamutu, the rates are out of all proportion, as will be seen by a glance at the following figures, showing the alterations and difference of rates chargeable at the stations named comparing the distances between each :— A. B. C. D. E. Mis. s. d. s. d. s. d. s d. d. Ohinewai to Hnntly 61 11 1800000 Huntley to Taupirl ..4141400000 Taupiri to Ngaruawahia 5141400000 Ngaruawahia to Puketo 4101003032 Pukete to Rapa .. 3000000000 Te Rapa to Hamilton Junction .. ..3000000000 Hamilton Junction to Rukuhia .. .. C302G2020G Rukuhia to Ohaupo ..4201814140 Ohaupo to Lake-road 2100 10 O'BOBG Lake-Road to Te Awamutu 4201814144 It will be seen that there is no proportionate regularity in the tariff for distances, the people at Ohinewai having to pay just as much for goods in classes C. D. and E. as those at Ngaruawahia fifteen miles further on. Those of Hamilton junction pay only 3d per-ton for classes C and D, and 2d per ton for E more than people at Ohinewai and Huntly, though twenty-five and nineteen miles of a greater distance respectively, and only Is per ton more for classes A and B at Hamilton junction than tiioae at Ngaruawahia, ten miles lesa. Now, I would like to ask, why should not the rates be general, and why not based upon a fair mileage rate ? Why should one portion of the line be favoured more than any other? And why in particular should the specially-favoured spots be Ngaruawahia, Pukete, and Hamilton Junction? These are questions that arc very generally asked, and various are the reasons aosigned for the evident partiality shown by the constructors ot our tariff towards the three places I have named. In thia connection, too, it has been asked, Why was the Pukete station shifted to its present location ? I think that the above specimen of our tariff rates will show every disinterested person how very unequally and unfairly they fall on the people ot the district through which the line runs, and how necessary :ia a thorough revision, based upon a mileage rate.—l am, &C, JDISSATISFIED.

TO THE EDITOR Sir, —It is lamentable to see so many police cases in connection with the Auckland railway, when the smallest spark of good management would prevent it all. On all well-regulated railways a barrier is placed across the platform with a wicket, at which an official is placed a short time before the train leaves, who sees that no one passes without showing a ticket. The consequence is the guards and porters, knowing all are passengers, request and see that they take their seats, and the train moves off safely a»d comfortably. Contrast this with the state of affairs at the Auckland station. There all are allowed to congregate on the platform. There is a general din and confusion, the whistle blows, the train moves slowly off, and the men are shouting and women screaming that somebody is under the wheels, and the inevitable police caso follows. I have been connected for over 30 year with railways in various parts of the globe, and I can safely assert that in no part of the world would such gross mismanagement be tolerated for a single week. But of course all this will be altered when some dreadful accident has occurred. What with the manager's very arduous duties and his almost constant attendance at the Police Court is sufficient to break the constitution of a much stronger man.—l am, &c., William Richakdson. Papakura, May 13, 18S2.