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The New Zealand Railways Magazine, Volume 4, Issue 4 (August 1, 1929)

An Outside Opinion

An Outside Opinion

A recent visitor to New Zealand was Mr. F. L. Castle, General Manager of an English railway signal company, who spent a month touring the North and South Islands. Mr. Castle has an intimate knowledge of the railway systems in the principal countries throughout the world and his opinion of our system is therefore of more than usual interest.

“New Zealand is exceedingly well advanced in electric signalling, and has little to learn from the signalling devices of other countries,” said Mr. Castle. Generally, he considered the railways were well run and the comfort and facilities offered compared more than favourably with those of other countries where railways of similar gauge were in operation. Considering the curves which were necessary to negotiate and the gradients in New Zealand, he was impressed with the degree of comfort offered.

“People have a habit of criticising their railways instead of setting out to help them,” said Mr. Castle. “The man in the street should not ‘grouse’ that the Department does not pay, but set himself out to do something for the good of the railways and the country. If he sends his goods by road the railways cannot pay. They belong to the country, and the profits are not distributed to shareholders in the form of dividends as they are in England and in many other countries, but are for the benefit of the country as a whole.”