RAILWAY IMPROVEMENTS

Sun (Christchurch), Volume I, Issue 49, 3 April 1914, Page 9

RAILWAY IMPROVEMENTS

INCREASED FREIGHTS. Press Association. PALMERSTON NORTH, April 2. A deputation representing the Borough Council and Chamber of Commerce, waited ori Mr Hiley, General Manager of the Railways, this afternoon in regard to improvements at the railway station. The question of the insufficient supply.of trucks was introduced, and Mr Hiley. stated that he recognised the difficulty and that the Department was doing all it could to meet the demand. He also said that more engine power was required, and he was preparing a report for the Minister. The question of anomalies in freights was discussed, and Mr Hiley stated that a revision of the tariff had recently been made in Australia and the Old Country which tended .towards increases. He assured the deputation that any revision in the Dominion would be in the nature of levelling up and not levelling down. The Department had to meet increased expenditure in material for the construction of rolling stock. , J The authorities, the General Manager further said, were experimenting with a svstem of warnings for level crossings, and if satisfactory these would be installed at the most dangerous' crossings in the Dominion. The system was an expensive one, and he could not promise which crossings would be attended to first.