Your Own Railway

The following is the fourth instalment of the text of a little booklet explanatory of the services and facilities of the New Zealand Railways, recently issued by the Railways Publicity Branch and distributed to all schools throughout the Dominion.

Although the people of New Zealand own the railways, the great majority of them may not know how far the very cheap railway freight helps to make the country prosperous.

The Piper's Son Up-to-Date.

By day and night, all the year round, through the length and breadth of the North and South Islands, the railways are carrying heavy goods at low charges which no motor service could grant. Last year the total weight of the goods and live-stock traffic for all lines was nearly 7,789,000 tons, carried at an average of 2.32d. (less than 2 1/2d.) a ton per mile. Can you imagine a motor vehicle taking a ton of goods a mile for less than 2 1/2d.? Yet the bulk of the railway haulage is done at a rate of less than 2.32d. a ton per mile, because 86 per cent of the total freight has the benefit of specially low charges.

The average distance that a ton of goods is hauled by rail is 66 miles.

By reason of these concessions and others, the railway revenue does not pay the full interest on loan capital, but the account could be squared if the average charge for the whole of the goods traffic, were raised from 2.32d. to 2.89d, (over 2 3/4d.) a mile per ton.

That easy way to make a railway profit has not been taken, because extra charges on the low rate goods could affect the prosperity of important industries and thus injure the public welfare.

(To be continued.)