HUGE RAILWAY LOSSES.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXIX, Issue 21110, 18 February 1932, Page 6

HUGE RAILWAY LOSSES.

DEFICITS IN AUSTRALIA. £20,000,000 IN TWO YEARS. LOOKING FOR A REMEDY. [FROM Oim OWN CORRESPONDENT. ] SYDNEY. Feb. 11. For the first time since railway deficits have threatened the financial stability of [Australia there has come an opportunity for a general overhaul of the railway system of the Commonwealth. The railways, because so many of them have been purely political, constitute the greatest problem in Australia to-day and more than anything else are responsible for the financial crash of all the Governments. In ten years the railways systems controlled by the Commonwealth and the States have lost £43,000,000 and each month that loss is growing. New South iWales alone has made some effort to Counteract the position by passing a drastic Transport Act. It can be said for certain 'that financial equilibrium is impossible until railway deficits are brought within reasonable bounds and it is not surprising, therefore, that the Premiers' Conference should have ordered -a complete investigation. The Boo*d of Inquiry will have an independent chairman—an accountant of high standing—but it se«ms unfortunate that it will be composed largely of the railway commissioners themselves. The idea put before the Premiers by the Commonwealth Transport Department was that the Commonwealth should take over the whole of the assets and liabilities of the railway systems. This has lead to the comment: "To ask the railway commissioners to report on such a proposal is like asking politicians to report on the abolition of all Parliaments." Whatever faulty there may be in the Constitution of the board, it is felt that ,valuable facts must be brought to light by it. These might lead to an investigation on- more comprehensive lines undertaken by people who have no interest in the management of the railways or other forms of transport. It is held that the place of the commissioners is not in the judgment box, but in the witness box, find the Premiers have been taken to task in many quarters for allowing the commissioners to capture the inquiry. The railway losses are staggering. For Jfche year ended June 30, 1930, the deficits aggregated £9,500,000. During the year ended June 30 last, the losses aggregated '£11,000,000. The capital invested in Australian railways amounts to £344,000,000, of which £100,000,000 was spent during the last ten years. Here are the proposals of the Transport Department upon which special report will be prepared. (1) Transfer of all assets and liabilities ef Stata railways to the Commonwealth; ;(2) creation of a national railways corporation to operate the railways under conditions that would safeguard Government finance and act as an intermediary between State ownership and direct operation ; (3) capitalisation of the national railway corporation in an amount based ppon the present earning capacity of the railways and transfer of the balance of existing railway capital to a "railway 'dead fund." to be liquidated over a period of years. The report expressed the view that only by some such means could railway finances be stabilised and some of the present burden of £9,000,000 a year upon the State Governments be removed. DEFICITS SINCE 1914. TOTAL OF £68,000,000. SYDNEY. Feb. 17. The accumulated losses since 1914 of the combined railways of Australia have reached the total of £68,000,000, according to figures released by the conference of railway commissioners and transport authorities now examining all railway accounts.