THE New Zealand Herald. AND DAILY SOUTHERN CROSS. FRIDAY, DECEMBER 19, 1924. RAILWAY ROLLING STOCK.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXI, Issue 18896, 19 December 1924, Page 10

THE New Zealand Herald. AND DAILY SOUTHERN CROSS. FRIDAY, DECEMBER 19, 1924. RAILWAY ROLLING STOCK.

The air is full of rumours and statements of change in the railway administration. Isew men, nev o! ganisation, new systems and new efficiency are supposedly about co work a miracle of transformation, making the system pay and making it meet the requirements of travelling public and commercial community in a manner never dreamt of before. One of the innovations, the campaign to attract business, is understood to be in full working order now. But what is the use of seeking to increase the demand for space, when the facilities for taking freight are found wanting? The Railway Department, despite its proclaimed anxiety to handle all A the goods offering for transport, despite its expressed desire to compete I successfully with the motor- ! lorry, is directly responsible for a I temporary cessation of operations at j the Waikato coalmines, and for a I serious curtailment of cargo discharging at the Auckland wharves. , There is a shortage of trucks to carry : coal and heavy overseas cargoes, j However seriously the motor-lorry ! may be cutting into business which I the railway authorities feel should I come to them, it is manifest that the j motor-transport agencies gained ' their footing first, and are maintain- !. . . [ ing it simply because the railways ! have not displayed and are not yet displaying the lirst essential of efficiency, the ability to cater for the business to be handled. It is all very well to suggest that the people should patronise the railways which they own, instead of motor transport systems owned and run by private individuals or firms. If, however, it becomes a question of motor i transport or no transport at all on Ihese recurring occasions when the railways are found wanting, is it to j be wondered if the public turns to j the motor-lorry at other times, be-1 lieving with good reason that with- ! out such .1 resource to fal! back upon j commerce would be brought almost! to a standstill? There has been a| grave lack of foresight in the | management of the rolling stock, or the position at present obtaining would not have arisen. The railways lose business, which is bad enough ; they lose the confidence of potential patrons, which is very much worse.

One. cause underlying the present deadlock. is too well known to be concealed. floods waggons are being withdrawn from the freight service and !,eld in the yards for con-

version into emergency passenger carriages to cope with the racecourse and other holiday traffic. These ears cannot reasonably be spared for ihc purpose. The dis-

trie!, staff, however, is placed in a J difficult. situation. Hotli trucks and; i passenger cars are in short supply, j 'I he holiday patron;; must bo catered ' for in some fashion, so (ho trucks! come in ;tinl the freight service suf- ;

fers accordingly. It happens fjt a time when the flow of goods is greatest,consequently the disorganisation makes itself felt swiftly and disastrously. The rolling stock on the North Island lines is quite inadequate for requirements, of course. That has been proved time and again bv events. There have been mainprotests to the Government, by the Herald in particular, that the work shop capacity of the district is far below requirements. Mr. Hilcy said so in his report of 1913. but little if anything has been done since. How-

ever efficient and capacious the Addington works may be, there is little comfort in the circumstance for the Auckland Province. "What is needed is an up-to-date workshop at, say, Penrose or Frankton, where the needs of the busiest portion of tho whole railway system could be met. the equipment kept up to date, and such vexatious and costly delays as are now being experienced avoided in the future. The trouble is always manifesting itself. Its occur rence has been one of the unfailing signs of the Christmas season, but is not confined to that period. It is time an end was put to it.

A feature of the position which should not be overlooked is the loss which fall* upon the miners in the Waikato fields because of the interruption to coal-winning operations. The fault is none of theirs. The season is one when the shortage in the family exchequer will be felt more than -t other times. Because the railway authorities have been guilty of lack of foresight, the miners' Christmas does not promise well. So in another direction the railways lose the goodwill the management declares itself so anxious to preserve. This is just one more offshoot of the feeling aroused by the manner in which the North Island system has been starved of rolling stock. When Mr. Hiley was surveying the whole position he said it was not good business to have on hand enough passenger carriages to meet every emergency call. He favoured the construction of goods waggons of a type that could be converted for temporary passenger us-:; without the discomfort associated with those generally utilised. It is not to be supposed, however, that he contemplated such a condition of rolling stock that the process would involve disorganisation of the freight service in the manner to which the province has become accustomed —but not reconciled. It might be profitable if it could be done without such consequences following. It is very doubtful whether the device pays in direct returns to-day. It certainly does not pay the community, nor, in the ultimate, the railways. Loss of goodwill must be set down on the debit side. Here is work for the new management to do, to put an end to a state of affairs which, always anomalous, has grown intolerable. If by supplying more equipment, and by organising it better, the newly-appointed authorities can cfiusc this continual exasperation to cease, then some of the promises made as they entered office will be counted as fulfilled.