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The New Zealand Railways Magazine, Volume 4, Issue 9 (January 1, 1930)

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Issue by issue the pages of the New Zealand Railways Magazine have told, throughout 1929, of the many and varied achievements of the eighteen thousand railway employees scattered on the various tracks lying between Opua and the Bluff, while in these “London Letters” have been recorded the outstanding items of interest concerning railway construction and operation in Britain and Europe generally.

Reviewing the railway position in Europe at the close of 1929, one finds the Home railways effectively established as group undertakings, with generally increasing traffics and a bright future ahead. The competition of the road carrier is largely being met; electrification is being extended in the London and Manchester areas; motive power is being steadily improved; passenger and freight train services speeded up; and improved connections have been introduced with continental railway systems. Across the Channel, the railways of western and central Europe have effected vast improvements in almost every department during 1929. Through the activities of the transportation section of the League of Nations, irksome frontier barriers have been removed, Customs operations speeded up, and better through international services opened out for both passengers and merchandise. Even in Russia, some progress has been effected in the railway field in the year which has just drawn to a close, and, altogether, the coming months seem to hold genuine prosperity for all the European railways. Especially does this appear likely on account of the admirable manner in which railway managements and railway employees are now pulling together in the common cause. At long last, the European railwayman has come to recognise the fundamental truth that only through whole-hearted co-operation and unstinting teamwork can railway prosperity be achieved, and that upon the prosperity of the undertaking depends the prosperity of the individual worker and the well-being of his family.