RAILWAY BOOKSTALLS

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 641, 18 April 1929, Page 1

RAILWAY BOOKSTALLS

CONTROL BY DEPARTMENT QUESTIONS AS TO STAFFING Although the Government announced recently that it would take over all railway bookstalls on June 30, many in the Auckland . district are already controlled by the department. Special arrangements have been made for the lessee of the stall at the Auckland Station to carry on as at present until the new station is opened. On June 30 the Railway Department will take over the bookstalls at Frankton Junction, Ohakune and Taumarunui as the leases expire on that date. The stall at Putaruru was taken over recently when the lessee suddenly decided to give up the business there. Whangarei was taken over last December and has been worked by the department ever since. Marton has been in the hands of the department since March 1. Most of the leases for bookstalls throughout New Zealand expire on June 30. That is why the department has fixed this date for taking them over. Any which do not expire on that date will be allowed to run on until the time the lease is due, with the exception of Auckland, for which special arrangements have been made. STAFFING THE STALLS It would be interesting to learn what arrangements the Railway Department is making for carrying on the bookstalls when it has got rid of the present lessees, asks the 1928 Committee in a communication from Wellington. Of course, it is well within its authority in taking over the administration of this service itself. No one will dispute this fact. But it is permissible to ask how the department is going to staff its bookstalls. At present they are open in the larger centres from 90 to 95 hours a week, including three or four hours on Sunday. In Dunedin the lessee and his wife and one female assistant maintain this extended service. Presumably similar conditions prevail in other centres. Under Government control at least, two shifts will be required. The lessee, the wife and the female assistant will have to be replaced by two shifts of three, as well as a Sunday attendant, making a staff of seven in all with prescribed pay and prescribed hours. The prospect is not a pleasing one for the taxpayer. The cost of maintenance .will be at least doubled, and it will not be surprising if the State’s share of the revenue is more than halved. HIGH RENTALS Several of the larger bookstalls, which have been occupied by the same lessees for a number of years, are paying very considerable rentals.* Sums as high as £I,OOO, £BOO and £6OO are mentioned, and higher rates are predicted. These are cases in which the lessees have had an opportunity to build up a stable business within the precincts of the railway station and to attract travellers of all tastes and degrees. Naturally cities like Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch and Dunedin offer greater facilities for developments of this kind than do the smaller centres along the railway lines: but in the aggregate such places as Hamilton, Palmerston North, Wanganui and Invercargill must contribute substantially to the revenue of the bookstall returns.