CHEAP RAILWAY FARES.

New Zealand Mail, Issue 932, 10 January 1890, Page 27

CHEAP RAILWAY FARES.

A clamour ia almost constantly prevalent for wholesale reduction of railway fares. It is always asserted with

a degree of confidence conversely proportionate to the amount of special knowledge or experience possessed —that the effect of such a reduction must, would, and should be so large a stimulation of traffic as to prove highly remunerative. The various authorities that have successively ruled the railway destinies of New Zealand have been earnestly denounced as a race of utter incapables because they failed to see that this was the only true way to “ make the railways pay,” and because they refused to shovel in the piles of coin suppoeed to be awaiting collection by this process. We, too, have incurred much obloquy at the hands of the ignorant by persistently maintaining that, however justifi dole and even advisable it might be, in certain cases, for the sake of eoiltteral benefits, to reduce the railway charges, it was foliv 'o imagine that reduction of rates alone would make the railways pay, or even would attract a sufficient increase of traffic to recoup the fi-st loss. The cases of Great BrAum and of other rich and densely-populated countries, so often absurdly cited in support of the low-fare theory, we have in former articles conclusively demonstrated to be entirely irrelevant, because there is no analogy whatever between the respective circumstances. With a view of testing, under the most favourable conditions, the effect of cheap fares, the Railway Commissioners, duriug the recent Christmas holidays, ran three excursions of special cheapness and attractiveness. All were to Dunedrn, and each allowed a stay of two clear days in the Exhibition City. The excursions were from Christchurch, Timaru, and Invercargill, and the fares were respectively 20s, 12s 6d, and 10s, there and back. It was estimated that 400 passengers would require to travel by each excursion to make the experiment remunerative. Now let us see what happened : —From Christchurch only 80 persons purchased the cheap 20s tickets. From Timaru only 150 travelled at the 12s 6d fare. From Invercargill only 150 on the first day and but a miserable fifteen on the second day. This, too, was in a holiday season, and when there was the special attraction of the Exhibition at the point of destination. Yet the fares charged were only a halfpenny per mile from Christchurch, rather less from Timaru, and still less from Invercargill. The cheap third-class fare on English railways is a penny per mile. The fare between Invercargill and Christchurch was only about a ■penny for three miles. Still these were the re suits. They are not encouraging. The plain fact is chat an accession of traffic will not be induced by low fares alone. No mere cheapness of transit would give any results comparable to those obtained in England. To get these there must be a large population conveniently situated, and there must exist also the time, the means, and the inclination to travel. The people of New Zealand, as it is, travel as much as their means, time, and inclination permit. They would not travel very much more were they carried gratuitously. The large and conveniently-situated population does not yet exist in New Zealand. As illustrating the influence that other circumstances than mere cheapness exercise on railway traffic, another experience of the late holidays may be instanced! ¥e have mentioned that only 80 pprsom? took advantage o.f the cheap balfpenny-per-mile excursion from Christchurch to punedin. Yet by the same train no |ewer than 130 persons travelled at the ordinary fares of 36s and 255. WFy ? Simply because the latter gave them the option of staying a month in Dunedin if they chose, instead of two days. It was the terms , not the price , that ruled the traffic. The curious ignorance of people generally on the subject of railway fares was comically illustrated not long ago. A deputation implqred the Railway Commissioners to reduce the price of certain tickets to one penny per mile. The deputationists were flabbergasted to learn from the Commissioners that the present charge was at the rate of only a halfpenny per mile! Thus to accede to their request would have been to doublq the

fares ! And this is not a solitary instance of its kind.