ROADS VERSUS RAILWAY

Taranaki Daily News, 8 November 1932, Page 4

ROADS VERSUS RAILWAY

TRAIN DAYS NOT NUMBERED

MR. F. LANGSTONE’S DEDUCTIONS

BATT.WAYS’ EVE OF PROSPERITY.

“Some people believe ths days of th® railways’ usefulness are already numbered, but I am one who believes their days are just beginning,” .said. Mr. F. Langstone, MJ?. for Waimarino, in speaking at the celebrations to mark the completion of the Stratford-Main Trunk railway at Heao yesterday- He described the railway as the great jugular vein of commerce, and said it was impossible for anyone fully to. appreciate or closely estimate the true value of railway services in New Zealand. Some people thought motor traffic and road transport had conie to oust the railways, but if the position was examined it would be found that New Zealand had £16,000,000 of capital, invested in ‘its railway transport services, and that it cost £9,000,000 a year to maintain and run those services. At present the New Zealand railways were showing a deficit of £1,500,000 on the year’s operations. The service was, the Railway Department maintained, a highly efficient one. Because of the deficit many people believed the end of railway transport was in sight, but was it? Compared with £16,000,000 invested in railways, the Government of NeyZealand had £65,000,000 invested in roads. In addition, the value of cars and commercial motor vehicles totalled £46,000,000 in round figures, and the sum of between £10,000,000 and £12,000,000 was represented in garage buildings. Thus it would ba seen that practically. £120,000,000 was the total amount of money invested in road services and transport. Costs could be calculated with the greatest accuracy on the railways, but with motor transport the position was • altogether different. Jt could be shown, however, that while the railways carried 7,800,000 tons of merchandise a year at a coAt of £9,000,000, road services cost approximately £28,000,000 to transport approximately 900,000 tons. Taking everything into consideration, any impartial investigator had to admit that the railways were the more They existed longer, word out more slowly, and fulfilled their function with substantially less depreciation. Conditions were just the opposite with road transport.' If it were possible to secure true balance-sheets of both services, the truth of his contention that the days of railway usefulness were far from being numbered would be proved.