LOWER RAILWAY FARES.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXVIII, Issue 20977, 14 September 1931, Page 8

LOWER RAILWAY FARES.

In the announcement of a substantial percentage reduction in railway passenger rates can be seen the first considerable evidence of new methods of management. Since public patronage of the railways began to fall away seriously under the impact of road competition, many things have been dono in the endeavour to check the movement. Some are to be commended heartily, especially the efforts t'o make the longer journeys more comfortable, or—harking back to the conditions that used to prevail—to remove the worst of the discomforts. By reducing fares, the board combines an invitation to the public to travel by train and a challenge to its rivals. It is a bold step, but one which :is fully justifiable. The steady decrease of passenger traffic has been quoted in one annual report after another as the outstanding cause of lowered returns. About ten months ago the department increased fares. The move was criticised at the time as being likely to intensify rather than mitigate the trouble. Revenue since then has not shown any encouraging increase, though naturally other factors besides the higher rates have been operating. The reversal of the policy can be accepted as proof that the board, after surveying the position, has decided that the step then taken was a mistaken one. It is evidently determined to embark on a different policy, that of encouraging the public to return to the railways, instead of levying on those who remain faithful to make up for the loss from those who have preferred other means of transport. How far it will be successful only time and experience can show, bat it is the logical device to try in the attempt to build up again a traffic that has suffered serious inroads in the past decade. Another encouraging sign is the announcement that a real effort will be made to cater for suburban passenger traffic, especially in the Auckland area. This is a department of railway business that has been systematically neglected for very many years. Whatever their outcome, the encouraging feature in the things the board proposes is their evidence of a readiness to explore new methods in the endeavour to make the railways pay.