THE TRAMWAY SERVICE

New Zealand Herald, Volume LX, Issue 18389, 3 May 1923, Page 8

THE TRAMWAY SERVICE

PROPOSED IMPROVEMENTS,

CIRCULAR ROUTE SYSTEM, FIRST GROUPING v SHORTLY. Considerable improvement in the control of the city tramway system is about to be effected by the tramways department of the City Council, the chief departure from the present method being the introduction of the circular route system, which it is expected will be initiated toward the end, of this month. In the meantime, however, the practice of changing the destination signs on the cars at the bottom of Queen Street has been abandoned. The alteration was made yesterday, and the result was watched with much interest. All cars coming down Symonds Street .had the signs changed at the top of Wellejsley Street East, those proceeding down Upper Queen Street had > the change made at the Town Hall, the signs on the Ponsonby cars were altered at St. Matthew's Church, and those on cars from Heme Bay and the Ponsonby depot at the intersection of Victoria Street West and Hobson Street. ... When many of these cars reached Queen Street at Wellesley Street, at the rush hour between 5 p.m. • and 6 p.m., many passengers desirous of securing seats for the outward journey, and under the erroneous impression that the cars would turn at that point for the outer suburbs, crowded aboard, but finding that tho cars were proceeding to the bottom of- Queen Street, quickly alighted", the i conductors' request for the twopenny fare for the short journey hastening the decision. There was therefore no great rush for the oars until they reached Customs Street, and here the displaying of the correct sign enabled passengers to select their car without any confusion. . Discussing the change yesterday, th© tramways manager, Mr. A. E. Ford, said it was merely a temporary measure to reduce the congestion at the foot of Queen Street and at the Customs Street intersection, but this temporary system would disappear when through routing was introduced, and the new destination signs were installed. The new signs were now / on order, and delivery would commence in about six weeks. " Greatly Increased Service. : Mr. Ford stated that plans for the introduction of the circular routing system were rapidly nearing completion, and a start would shortly be made •on certain of the suburban lines. The first grouping of lines would be brought into effect about May 20, by running cars from Remuera to Mount Albert, and vice versa via the city, the cars in each case rounding the corner of. Customs Street instead of proceeding.to the dead "end at the Chief Post Office or of finishing the journey at the Customs Street terminus as at present. He pointed out that this would result in a considerable saving of time and make an increased service pos : 'Bible. * ■■;::, . *

In actual practice it would mean that an eight-minute service would be inaugurated between the Itwo suburban 1 termini, in place of the present 14-minute service to jßemuera and the 10-minute service to Mount Albert. . Further, during the peak loading periods an eightminute service would be run between Morningsido and the Remuera post office, via the city, thus giving an even fourminute service between the outer points when the demand was greatest. Some of ■ the advantages arising out of this innovation would be that passengers from the eastern suburbs who wished to go .through to Karangahape Road would be able to do so, : and that the saving in time gained by the elimination of shunting in- Lower Queen Street, estimated at from three to five minutes on each trip, would make possible a very much desired increase in service. ; ~ _ It is proposed to follow this new service with other through services until .all the suburban lines are linked up, and the present delay occasioned by shunting at the bottom of Queen Street reduced to a minimum. It is understood that the next grouping will be Mount Eden and Great South Road, and Grey Lynn and Heme Bay. - Better Distribution of Loads. The importance of maintaining an even headway between , cars on a given route was emphasised by Mr. Ford, who said that for the system to be satisfactory and give the utmost service, it was essential that the cars must run ,to schedule. To effect this it was proposed to introduce time recording clocks as now used in all modern tramway systems in large centres. These instruments were extremely valuable in that they ensured even spacing .between cars, and made it possible to distribute the load evenly between the cars. An important factor in maintaining this even headway, said Mr. Ford, would be the duplication of the Onehunga, Remuera, and Grey Lynn lines authorised under the recent loan •proposals. ' \ •.-■ With-these and other proposals under consideration, said' the • tramways manager, it was hoped to secure the utmost efficiency from the tramway plant, but the innovations could not be introduced in a day. They had to be carefully planned 'and tested, but he felt confident that when the whole scheme was in working order, the public would appreciate the change and the improved service which would result. •'