CONTROL OF TRAMS.

Taranaki Daily News, 31 May 1924, Page 5

CONTROL OF TRAMS.

REGULATIONS OBJECTED TO. By Telegraph .—Press Association. Wellington, May 30. At the Tramways Conference yesterday the Hon. J. Barr, chairman of the Christchurch Tramways Board, urged that there was no sound reason why the Government regulations should be enforced on local bodies. Finance was an obstruction and the results obtained would not fulfil the ends aimed at in the regulations, as even the present regulations were not carried out, and with human factors, accidents were bound to happen. Centralised regulations could not be made to apply to localities with different requirements. Tramway systems could not be bound by hard and fast rules while science continually advanced. Perhaps the whole system of rail cars would have to be scrapped. The improvement to the roads under the Main Highways Bill would bring in the motor-bus to a greater extent competing with the trams as they already did with the trains. The conference continued the discussion until 6.15 p.m.. when the Minister said it seemed the best thing to do was apply the regulations to each city in turn. Mr. Barr had raised a point of the varying conditions and he agreed that a centralised set of conditions could not be applied to all the cities with equity. Changes in transport methods must be considered. The Act had brought about some improvements in ‘the conditions already and was an indication of what would be done if the companies did not run the tramways in th? interests of the public. It was eventually decided that a conference in committee between the representatives of each centre and . the Minister should take place thia morning.