Tramway Reorganisation.

Star (Christchurch), Volume LXIV, Issue 935, 4 December 1933, Page 8

Tramway Reorganisation.

Dear Sir, —Your correspondent, “D. 3,” has placed the wrong interpretation to the credit of the new Tramway Board members’ promise to speed up and improve the service. I take it that the new board will cut the losses on non-payable routes. Tnat the Square-railway station service, under present schedule, is a drain upon the exchequer is quite obvious. In the effort to substantiate that contention I submit the following: During the greater part of every day, tramcars with heavy trailers attached and without even the semblance of a payable number of passengers, can be observed plying between the Square and the railway station. If “ D. 3 ” will take up a position at the corner of Colombo and Cashel Streets during business hours of the city he cannot fail to notice the “ one tram one passenger " example set by the Square-station service. Will he then give serious thought to the needless wear and tear of those two heavy cars continually passing over the permanent way, carrying the heaviest traffic of the service, which he will also notice greatly exceeds the demand between the Square and Moorhouse Avenue. The “ sacks on the mill ” principle of that line of out and ingoing procession of cars is a decided obstacle in the way of profit, but. whereas the cars continuing on their route, exceeding the Avenue, have prospect of procuring business to convert loss into profit, the Square-station dead end service is only an interfering and loss-incurring system. The one-man tram, at very distant intervals, is the only solution for this What will the board do winl^Wi l and cars they take off this service? them, of course, on the sections that warrant speeding up, not forgetting to discard expensive juice-costing trailers. The board will, of course, use discretion regarding the curtailment of other time-tables, irrespective of protest, and might expedite the service on the sections the profit-producers use. Then we in the central area—assisted by our near neighbours of the suburbs, will show our appreciation by visiting the city and our friends even more frequently than we do at present, per the tramcars. Although the board now consists of Labour members, in the main, those meiy'ers are tho servants of the community as a whole, and as such it may be raid: “As ye sow so shall ye reap.”—l am. etc., CUT YOUR LOSSES.