THE New Zealand Herald AND DAILY SOUTHERN CROSS TUESDAY, MARCH 27, 1917. ECONOMISING TRAINS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LIV, Issue 16499, 27 March 1917, Page 4

THE New Zealand Herald AND DAILY SOUTHERN CROSS TUESDAY, MARCH 27, 1917. ECONOMISING TRAINS.

The : Railway Department is . reported to. be considering a reduction of train services, which will release

men for the. front without interfering unduly with the essential needs of the community. There has been a* growing public, feeling that this step is imperative, so that such , a project will meet with very general approval, and be supported by a public ; opinion ; rarely . given • to • reduced facilities. It goes without saying ■ that the incidence - of any change I. of this ;; description ;'• may .•-. be strongly criticised, for it is mani- j festly impossible, to discontinue trains . or to alter ' existing - railway arrangements without, affecting many individuals but we may hope that the railway authorities will > . very '.; carefully •; consider any contemplated alterations,"' and will disturb the public as little as is possible ,under the circumstances. We must endeavour to look upon this temporary inconvenience with - patriotic minds, and v. to j recognise that the Railway Departi ment is only doing its duty in this somewhat belated.;practice , 'of , an economy which has been so strenuously urged upon' private citizens by all who are qualified to advise, ".-\ Among the reductions to be expected is a suspension of one of the Main Trunk expresses, nor : will there be any v serious 'complaint.;; in the ' North if' the same economy is applied to the South. : We may suggest to the Minister that the greatest public service and the greatest departmental . economy I would be secured if a " Daylight'; Express " were instituted between ;-Auckland and Wellington. With any present congestion of ; lines /and, calls upon locomotives' relieved by v general reductions : and economies, it ,■ should be possible to speed up the raining of ; a remaining -. Auckland-Wellington express • so I that the through journey could be made between morning and midnight. This would release, the night staff to a very great extent, and would ,: enable \ the sleeping to be dispensed with until the Night Express resumed after, the war. We take it for granted that the pruning- ' knife will .be , applied - to the ;• South Island services with strict ; imparts ality, and that we shall not have the scandal of double expresses between

; Christchurch and. Dunedm and: of hardly-modified; facilities on .the net- | work of Southern lines, while the , North, which'provides all the profits, is treated to drastic economics. .• •' , It is s plainly neither economic noi I desirable nor ; possible Ato ■, interfere i with the facilities offered by the rail i way's .■ for V essential transportation. Agricultural: produce, coal, r timber lime, and essential articles of everj , kind must be handled by -the Depart ment . without unnecessary' and«; unreasonable delay, i though v even in this; direction efficient management may be able' to make economical re- ' adjustments under pressure of" the national exigencies. A'lt is the pas.seriger traffic which may bo. compressed or reduced .'without ■; disastei to the national prosperity, and while this phase ;■ of : the problem is ; undei consideration it seems impossible tc avoid reference ,to J race trains and excursion trains. With all deference to the railway authorities, ii must be evident that 'the. constant strain upon rolling-stock and stafl imposed by these causes: are burden some and labour-taking. That thej are highly profitable is ; probably the reason why they are looked upor with a friendly . eye by those resppn sible for departmental balance sheets, ; ; but is not 'a. satisfactory rea son'/ for married men being : bailee into camp while the Railway Depart ment claims exemption - for; men o: the First Division. -' If the Depart ment . finds '■■ its ■; plant and '■■'■ its V staf capable of ; sustaining these 'A con stantly recurring strains " '■■ without any addition to its normal anc necessary.', strength, it A would A seen that the railway; organisation is lyerj far from perfect. It will be remem bered that when the provincia system was constantly falling behinc in the handling of coal, the railway authorities repeatedly }J explainec that race trains and holiday train! were the cause of the difficulty. Noi will it bo forgotten 'that the loca Agricultural Association {was oflioi ally; informed, some ■ years ago, thai the Department could not encourag( the removal of its show grounds tc a railway site because ,of • the diffi culty and strain of handling occa sional heavy traffic. A Considering al this, it appears : that; if we are tc have the railways placed on;a war footing, A race trains and ' holidaj trains will have: to be very considerably reduced. ' ■:'■ '-^''