TRAMWAY FINANCE

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume LXXXI, Issue 18974, 27 March 1924, Page 4

TRAMWAY FINANCE

Christchurch, like Wanganui, is losing money on its trams, though not nearly so heavily in proportion to population. The result of the operation of the service in the Cathedral city during the year ended March 31, as disclosed at this week’s meeting of the Tramways Board, will be a loss of £7OOO. This result was not due to the provision of an ampler service—the car-mileage decreased by 84,000; it was not due to a falling off in custom—the number of passengers carried increased by 350,000. The Press is not satisfied with the Board’s explanation of the causes responsible for this unpleasant state of affairs. What the plain man cannot understand, it says, is why a cheap transit organisation enjoying a monopoly in a prosperous and progressive city like Christchurch cannot make it pay. The chairman of the Board is about to visit the Old Country, and the Press expresses the hope that as the result of inquiries he intends to make while there he will be able, on his return, to make some suggestions which will lead to better results than the service is able to show at present. In the meantime, in view of the necessity for immediate action, the chairman has forecasted a reconsideration of fares, and has made certain suggestions in connection therewith which our contemporary regards as so obviously sound as to occasion wonder as to why they were not adopted long ago.