RAILWAY WORK.

Stratford Evening Post, Volume XXXI, Issue 22, 11 September 1911, Page 5

RAILWAY WORK.

IMPORTANT DEVELOPMENTS. HEN ART) RO A D-TR AINS ORDERED. The Railways Statement presented to the House at the end of last week hy the Hon. J. A. Millar shows that the net profit on last year’s working was £1,190,910, and that the earnings totalled £3,491,182, the highest in the history of the department. A profit of 4.08 on the invested capital is shown. An active developmental policy is foreshadowed hy the Minister, who will ask Parliament to sanction an expenditure of £IOO,OOO on grade-reduc-tion work to he spent at the rate of £25,000 per annum. The cash-on-de-livery system in respect to parcels will he brought into operation, making it possible for tradesmen to consign goods to clients, the department collecting the charges and jurying the amount to the consignor. A practical test of the llcnard road trains, one of which the Minister saw operating in Queensland, kill lie made in Central Otago, and if successful, similar trains will he brought into use elsewhere to jrrovide a reliable means of transport in the nearest railway station for settlers in sparsely populated districts. Motorcar services, referred to in last year's statement, will he in operation this year. Regarding railwaymen’s wages, the Minister states that he will submit proposals to the House for further immnving the pay of the second division men.