THE MAIN TRUNK RAILWAYS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LVIII, Issue 17873, 30 August 1921, Page 4

THE MAIN TRUNK RAILWAYS.

The reduction of the express train services on the North Island Main Trunk line may be justified by the decline in passenger traffic. If the existing conditions are correctly described in the Minister's - statement, it would be foolish to challenge his decision. The financial position of the railways generally is so serious that the Government must resort to drastic remedies. But the latest proposals must be considered in conjunction with the curtailment effected on August 14. Viewed as a whole the retrenchment is so inconsistent with the facts of the situation that it is difficult to believe it is based solely on considerations of economy and efficiency, and not determined by political influences. During the last financial year, the North Island main line system earned profits at the rate of 6.01 per cent, on capital cost; the corresponding return on the South Island system was 1.54 per cent., so that while the northern system more than paid its way, the southern system demanded a heavy subsidy out of the taxation fund, as it has done year after year for a generation. Mr. Guthrie discusses the financial returns for the 16 weeks to July 23. The position is bad—worse than it would have been had the Government long ago heeded the warnings against the inefficient and unsound methods of administration—but the results in the North Island are still much better than in the South •Island. Thus the main line system of this island shows a profit for the period of £73,777, but the southern system has involved a dead loss, without counting interest charges, of £80,203. Yet the Minister announces that the same " cut" is to be made in the principal passenger service of the North Island as he had previously made in the South Island. If to-day's decision is justified, then a further drastic curtailment in the South Island cannot be postponed. If the traffic returns for the period are examined, it will be found that while the number of passengers in the North Island has declined, in comparison with the corresponding period of last year, from 2,652,427 to

2,605,436 pa difference of 46,991 or 1.77 per cent.—in the South Island the reduction has been from 1,686,929 to 1,416,269 —a difference of 270,660 or 16.05 per cent. Season tickets issued on the northern system show an increase of 7.3 per cent, to 97,313 against an increase of 3.7 per cent, to 46,723 in the south. The contrast is confirmed by the revenue returns. The total receipts for passengers, luggage, and mails in the North Island were £521.662, a decline of 2.33 per cent. The southern system, with 300 miles more of railways, earned £244,883, which is 12.94 per cent, less than last year's result. In the face of these figures, it is absurd to r.ay that the passenger services must be reduced in the same proportion in both islands. From Mr. Guthrie's statement it appears that the Railway Department has at last discovered how to record the traffic on individual lines or by single trains. That method should be applied without delay to the services in the South Island, with a view to discovering why it has always cost more to run them than they earn.