THE SUBURBAN TRAINS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLIX, Issue 14930, 1 March 1912, Page 6

THE SUBURBAN TRAINS.

The indignation meeting held at Henderson to protest against the ndifference to public requirements displayed jr. the Railway Department ,' had , just cause for "its resentMent,' w The, ..painful, ..slowness of :rains wherein suburban residents ire now compelled to pass a considerable portion of their lives; the inadequate service which is a perpetual source of helpless irritation; She strange anomalies in fares and freights against which there is nc redress; have combined to impress ipon the individual sufferers the desirability of the united actior which alone can' remedy publk grievances. Among the numerous causes which led to the destructior :>f the administrative majority al the recent • elections the universai dissatisfaction at the railwaj management was not the least. As i result of the elections we maj confidently anticipate that, whatevej Happens to the Government, the portfolio of Railways will pass frorr ihe feeble hands of Mr. Millar tc more capable holding but it musi me recognised that a Minister if largely at the mercy of his officers in matters of Departmental manage nent—however independent he maj be in matters of policyand thai the managing officials of the railways will have to be reformed 01 superannuated before any great improvement can be expected, on the Main Trunk, on the Kaipara line, 01 anywhere else. The Government is wholly •to blame for having permitted the management of the rail ways to fall into its present intolerable state, and for having made Dommon cause with indifferent officials, instead of insisting upon improvement or replacing them by the better men whose energies are now restrained. When the railways are brought up to date and when the facilities offered to the public are more in keeping with the requirements of the , times and the possibilities of this great public service, the Kaipara lino will immediatelj feel the result. The through trains on this important section can He easily and profitably expedited, and the suburban section can be, developed to the mutual advantage oj the metropolitan public, of the suburban residents, and of the Depart ment. The old-fashioned 'bus services were always conducted witl: greater consideration for then patrons than the " Hendersor trains'' have ever been, while the tramway company sets an example of commercial public-spiritedness which is "unknown to those who are responsible for the suburban timetables. There is every. reason whj the Auckland-Henderson suburbar section should be extended to Swanson, and why its trains should be increased, expedited, and rear ranged. It might be imagined thai the line is maintained by bounties from the consolidated revenues, whereas it is a paying and profitable section, and one which could be made much more profitable ii shrewdly and intelligently managed, But if reform is wanted the agitatioi should not be allowed to slacken. Not only on the Henderson suburbar section, but on line suburban section, residents shoulc seize upon this timely occasion foj forcing Departmental attention tc their many notorious grievances.