FAITH IN TRAMS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXVIII, Issue 20818, 10 March 1931, Page 11

FAITH IN TRAMS.

VALUE TO LARGE CITIES. WIDE EXTENSION ADVOCATED. EXPERIENCE OF GLASGOW. "Trams are very far from being out of date so far as large cities are concerned," stated Mr. James Dalrymple, a retired general manager of the Glasgow Tramway Corporation, who is a through passenger on the Niagara, which arrived from Sydney yesterday. Mr. D;ilryni|jo retired from the corporation's servico in 1927 after 22 years' service, and is making a trip a,round the world. As the guest of Mr. A. E. Ford, manager of tho Auckland Transport Board, Mr. Dalrymple yesterday visited tho offices, depots and workshops of the board, and was keenly interested in the running of tho system. He was also taken over several of the lines and travelled on one of the board's new cars. Commenting upon the service, Mr. Dalrymple said some of the tracks were very good, and he felt sure the new tramcars catero/1 admirably for the needs of Auckland travellers. The tracks in Auckland, and also those in Melbourne, were far better than the tracks in Sydney, where there seemed to be less care taken in tha maintenance of the service. City ol Cheap Fares. The policy of the Transport Board in extending its services was heartily endorsed by Mr. Dalrymple, who said he had always advocated a general extension of tramway facilities for every city. In Glasgow the services extended in radial lines from the city in every direction, for distances of from eight to ten miles. It was only by pushing the tramway facilities right out to the outlying communities thafc the population could be encouraged to spread. Once the tracks were laid, building would follow naturally in the vicinity. From eight to ten miles, Mr. Dalrymple considered the most practicable distance for extension in most cities.

The Glasgow system, Mr. Dalrymple stated, had a world-wide reputation for efficiency, and it was the most successful system financially in the' world. The minimum fare was for a half-mile, Id for a mile, which was the second stage, for the third stage, and 2d for the fourth stage. Twopence was the maximum fare, and after the fourth stage had been reached, a distance of two miles, the passenger could travel as much further on the line as he chose without having to pay any additional fare. In some cases distances up to 20 miles could be covered for 2d. Trams Better for Crowds. "We had to do this to meet competition from buses: they threatened our existence and we had to put our house in order," said Mr. Dalrymple. The competition the corporation had met from that quarter forced it to provide better equipment, greater comfort, more adequate services, and cheaper fares. In that way it withstood the challenge of the motor-bus without the assistance of legislation. Legislation was coming, however, to restrict the activities of motorbuses, as they had started to oppose everything with a flood of unnecessary vehicles. The attitude of the Government, and rightly so, was that there should be no waste in traffic. In Mr. Dalrymple's opinion no city in Great Britain was in a position to dispense with its tram services. A lot was heard of buses, but the ability of trams to handle large crowds quickly made them the fundamental basis of practically every efficient transport system.