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Railway Progress in New Zealand
General manager's message
The Change in Railway Control.

By the time this message reaches readers of the Magazine, all those interested in the change in Railway control, namely, the patrons of the Railways, the members of the service, and the general public, will doubtless have had an opportunity to consider the details of the Government's decision in the matter, whereby the Railways Board is dissolved, and the principle of Government control through the Minister of Railways and the General Manager of Railways, is fully established.

There is one point in connection with the change to which I desire to draw attention, and that is to the fact that, when the projected change was announced, the newspaper press of the Dominion seemed to be unanimous in giving credit to the influence of the Board for the improvement in the quality if service rendered by the members of the Railway Department during recent years.

As head of the Railways Department, and without wishing to take away anything from the Board, I am impelled to say that the whole of the credit for the quality of service given to the public in recent years should go to the staff of the Department who, from one end of the Dominion to the other, have responded so well to the frequently expressed desire of the Management, that the quality of service rendered to the public might be as good as it was possible to give in every circumstance, and fully worthy of this great Department of State and of the people of the Dominion. In this statement of the position I am sure individual members of the Board will agree, and would be the first to disclaim any credit for the improvement referred to.

Hence I have no hesitation in assuring the patrons of the Railways and the general public, again on behalf of every member of the Department, that the standard of service, regarding which so many favourable comments have been made, will be fully maintained in the changed conditions, and that wherever possible it will be still further improved.

The members of the Service, as is only natural and in duty bound, have the utmost goodwill towards the patrons of the Department, who really constitute the whole of the public; and even that goodwill, translated into terms of service, cannot fail to be enhanced as a result of the expressed intention of the Hon. Minister of Railways and the Government to see that the Railways obtain fair treatment and better recognition of the value of the work they are performing and are designed to perform in the general transport interests of the country.

General Manager

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