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facilities to attract passengers, and (3) development of road
feeders to bring additional business to the line.
1.
Rehabilitation.
To deal with rehabilitation first, it may be stated that
the engines and rolling stock of the railway have been brought
into a suitable state of repair, the stations and buildings
are in a satisfactory condition, while the track, with the
exception of sleeper renewals, and bridges are in good shape.
The only question as regards rehabilitation is the provision
of sleepers and, for the purpose of putting the road bed into
a condition suitable for higher speeds to be attained with
safety by trains, eight thousand new sleepers are required.
Taking the cost of a sleeper at $4.50 (Canton currency) including
labour, a sum of three hundred and sixty thousand dollars must
be raised for resleepering. The railway has done what it
could with its limited resources to tackle this problem, but
it is too big and of too great urgency to be carried through
unaided.
2.
Provision of Additional Facilities.
(a) As regards the provision of additional facilities to
attract passengers to the railway, something has already been
done by providing a higher standard of comfort in the seating
of the second class cars, as well as improved lighting and
electric fans in the third class coaches. However, this is
not enough. The cars in use are of common style, and as
comfort is a most important factor in attracting business it
will be necessary to have some passenger care equipped with
the most modern conveniences,
or Parlour cars must be added.
Observation and Drawing Room
It is considered that four
such cars should be provided to begin with. Their cost will
5.