THE RAILWAY EARNINGS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LX, Issue 18322, 12 February 1923, Page 6

THE RAILWAY EARNINGS.

; Thanks to the holiday period and the multitudinous activities of the season, the railway returns for the four weeks ended January 6 are unusually cheering. The department regularly looks to holiday traffic to recoup it for losses incurred at other times. This Christmas-tide the results have more than justified expectations. Not only , has the revenue exceeded expenses sufficiently to make the profit well over £200,000, it has outstripped that of last year by a handsome amount. The better returns on this occasion are not entirely to be attributed to curtailment of working expenses. With the year's profit up to £650,000, and almost three months still to be accounted for, £1,000,000 profit does not seem unattainable. v So far the outcome is satisfactory. The drawback is the degree to which holiday profits are made at the expense of the unfortunate traveller. So substantial a toll is taken from the pockets of the people at this season of the year, that the grotesquely inadequate manner in which they are catered for stands out in all the more glaring relief. By making traintravelling a matter of reasonable comfort the year round, the department would encourage the public to travel, and thus augment its revenue. Then, when holiday time came, the whole organisation would not be so liable to break down under pressure, leaving the patrons of the service to suffer the consequences. It is not necessary to weigh the advantages of profitable results or a satisfied public. Both results should be attainable simultaneously. A balance on the right side of the ledger, which is brought nearer to hand by the latest return, . can never be fully acceptable until combined with conditions which make travelling at least tolerable instead of the penance it is at present.