TRAMWAYS BILL

New Zealand Times, Volume XXXIII, Issue 7930, 13 October 1911, Page 1

TRAMWAYS BILL

MR DAVEY’S NEW CLAUSE

STATEMENT BY THE MAYOR OF WELLINGTON t COST £61,000 r, A clause was added to the Tramways g Act Amendment BUI in the House of y .Representatives on Wednesday night i- whxcu will have a serious efioct on the 0 Wellington tramway system if it finally becomes law. 'Tne clause was inserted e cnrough the instrumentality of Mr T. H. n Davey, of Chnsicnurcii Bast, and reads rl as fellows:—" (X) Ail tram-cars shall be j »e constructed as to provide a passageway from one end of the car to the L ' otner. (2) At least 10 per centum of tne existing cars tincludiug car's constructed pursuant to a contract entered ' prior to the passing of this Act) which are not in compliance with this provislon shall be converted annually, so as to briug them in compliance therewith.” The Mayor (Mr Wiiford) was not in 1 his place in the House when the clause - was inserted, as his medical adviser has i forbidden him to go out at night, but yesterday, when interviewed on the subt ject, lie said ho intended to move for a - recommittal of the Bill, with the object s of having Wellington exempted trom me 1 operation of the clause, as it would deg trimefitally aliect tne Wellington system. Tne clause, he said, if placed on the - Statute Booh would have an unlocked for y euect on Wellington's tramway undert taking. 1 If tiro Government persisted in ns retention, his personal opinion was mat tne best thing the city could do c would be to ask tne Government to take j over the whole concern, run it and pay b the liabilities. Under the clause Wei- - iiugton, with its narrow gauge' track, 3 was placed in a most extraordinary posi- * lion. The maximum width, of cars ? allowed hero by the Government was (. lift (im,: and that did not give sufii- . cien't room for a passage-way between - transverse scats, even if the number of i passengers on a line of cross seats did 5 not exceed three—two on one side of the passage and one on the other. To comply with the new requirements only the . box typo of cars, witn longitudinal seats, ■ would bo practicable in the Wellington > service. The clause would affect sixty- ' three cars—forty-three “ palaces,” seven- ;' teen ‘‘ combinations,” and three " Houg- : kongs.” The cost of alteration, according [ to tne city electrical engineer and tram- ; ways manager (Mr S. Richardson) would ba ARM a car, or a total of about .£25,bi11), and tho seating capacity would be reduced from 300 Uto 2000. It would be necessary to provide thirty additional cars to make tho total carrying capacity under the new regime equal to that of the present types. Tho extra cars would cost JGI2OO total of i!36,000. The aggregate extra outlay would be J 261.000. The estimates of TSU and TKK) a car as the cost of alterations mentioned in the House were quite inadequate for Wellington, where the narrow width of cars invoked reconstruction to effect the specified alteration. “Tho box type of car,” he continued, “is very inconvenient for the loading and unloading of passengers, and it uses up more time at the stopping places than tho cross-seat types. The combination types are the most popular ones, and I think the public will resent their conversion into ' boxes.' Sydney uses a large number of palace cars, and more of this type are being built. This is tho best car for running a quick, satisfactory service." Mr Wilford then explained that the Wellington gauge was 4ft, compared with ■lft 85-in in Christchurch and Auckland. The width of the Auckland cars- was "ft Gin, Christchurch Bft, and Wellington t£t Gin. Tho clause, if adopted, would make tho service in Wellington slow and expensive to work. Judged by tho latest figures the revenue would not 1 bo sufficient. to meet the extra running costs, and large loans would have to bo ■ floated to alter the cars and increase the 1 rolling stock. A CHRISTCHURCH OPINION ■ NEW CLAUSE NOT WANTED. 1 1 PRESS ASSOCIATION. 1 CHIUSTCHUROH, October 12. The new clause added to the Tramways 1 Act Amendment Bill on the motion of Mr T. H. Davey, M.P., was the subject , of a statement made to a reporter by i Mr George T. Booth, chairman of tho Christchurch Tramways Board. Mr Booth said that if it were a quea- f tion purely of" providing reasonable safe- i guards against accidents to conductors > tho board would bo disposed to consider ‘ tho. matter of expense. At present the risk to a conductor was so slight as to s be almost negligible, and from that point c of view there was not any necessity to j make tho change suggested by Mr Davey. On the other hand, both the safety and I convenience of tho public using. tho I trams had to'be considered, and in both these respects the change would bo to die disadvantage of the public. There . would bo a diminution of seating capa- b city in'the cars and there would also be considerably more delay in boarding and t alighting, which would mean delays in n the traffic.

Moreover, if a conductor, out of regard to his own safety, the centre aisle he could only do so at considerably increased risk to passengers using tho cars, as he could not simultaneously be In the centre of a crowded aisle collecting fares and on the ground, where he should be when passengers were boarding or alighting at stopping places. Mr Booth added that if the changes had to be carried out cross-seated spaces on some of the cars would probably have to be closed and footboards abolished. The expense of altering tho cars would be very, considerable. It was ridiculous to say that a car could be altered for £5 or ,£lO. Tho board would not hesitate to alter the cars if the safety of tho conductors and passengers would bo increased by tho alterations, but ho could not see that any benefit would accrue from Mr Davey's proposals.