PUBLIC PECORD OFFICE
Reference -
C.O.882/12
ཟ་ཟཝ་་་་་་—— ———-- མཐ
FALLY WITHOUT PERMISSION OF THE BE REPRODUCED PHOTOGRAPHIC- | COPYRIGHT PHOTOGRAPH—NOT TO
PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE. LONDON:
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If, however, the savings and additional revenues are taken in con- junction with the figures of expenditure, Rs.2,376,459, and revenue, Rs.1,925,800, which the department has used in dealing with the proposed reduction to a goods basis, the effect of the Rs.408,000 hypothetical savings, and the Rs.277,000 extra revenue would then be in 1935-
Expenditure-Rs.1,970,000 leaving a margin of Rs.232,000.
Revenue-Rs.2,202,000
This margin is no larger than would be obtained by the reduc- tion to a goods basis, but in the latter case our contemplated savings are definite. We would also observe that the Railway Department have been accustomed to use the depreciation charge of Rs.260,000 as a means of showing that a goods service would give a deficit, but the element of depreciation is now excluded from the account. The depreciation fund in this scheme is in the first place to be borrowed, and thereafter reduced to Rs.50,000, which, like the extra charges for pensions, and, for several years, the interest on the loan, is left out of the calculation of profit.
This is a financial programme which we cannot accept. There is no certainty in any of the figures except in the Rs.247.000 extra tax on the third-class passenger, and the demand for borrowing further capital for experimental development". We regard this scheme as a fantasy in the manner of 1921, and we recommend without hesitation that it should be rejected.
15. We must now return to the further consideration of the scheme for reducing the railways to a goods basis, which is the only scheme in which the economies are certain. We have shown that these économies would bring the working expenditure of the rail- ways into something like equilibrium with the revenue. But is the revenue assured?
We are emphatically opposed to the policy of forcing omnibus passengers to return to the rail: this would be a reversal of natural progress and would compel passengers to leave what is so obviously the most convenient form of travelling, and to take a less convenient form at a higher cost. We would similarly oppose any further taxation of the light lorry traffic which serves the retail shops.
But the same considerations do not apply to measures to safe- guard the traffic which has not left the railways and need not leave them. We have been repeatedly told that the maintenance of the railway is necessary for the transport of sugar, for which, owing to topographical conditions, it is the most economical form of transport, and the traffic figures support this contention. If the railway must be maintained in the interests of the sugar industry it appears to us to be not unreasonable to require that the industry shall make full use of it. It appears to us, also, to be reasonable
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312
that the State, which maintains the public roads, shall prescribe the maximum weights to be carried thereon by motor or other vehicles. If there are no safeguarding measures it is by no means impossible that heavy goods might be taken to the roads in increas- ing quantities. Not only would this again produce a railway deficit, but it must be the cause of great damage to the roads. The light omnibus and light lorry at present in use can easily be carried on the Mauritius roads, but heavy vehicles would very rapidly increase the charge for road maintenance.
In the interest both of the road and the railway we recommend that regulations should provide that (1) on the main road from Mahebourg to Port Louis (2) on the road from Souillac to Nouvelle France (3) on the road from Bambous to Richelieu (4) on the road from Mapou to Terre Rouge (5) on the road from Quartier Militaire by Moka to Port Louis, no road vehicle with a registered tare (with or without trailer) exceeding one ton should be permitted to transport any of the following commodities:-
Sugar. Sugar Cane. Sand.
Manure. Earth.
Cement.
Stone.
Fertilisers.
Coal.
Coal Briquettes.
Coal Ashes.
Coke.
Metal Scrap.
Rolling Stock (or components). Paints (in drum exceeding 50
kgs. capacity).
Bituminous Solution (in drums exceeding 30 gallons capacity). Oils (in drums exceeding 30
gallons capacity).
Firebricks.
Bricks.
Machinery.
Timber (exceeding
12
ft.
length).
Pipes.
Locomotives (or components). Girders
These regulations would effectively protect the main roads from being exposed to damage from the transport of heavy goods, and would ensure that this class of goods should be carried over the railway in all cases where there is direct competition between the railway and the road.
We recommend further that the Public Works Department should prepare additional regulations which should provide (a) that no motor vehicle other than a vehicle fitted with pneumatic tyres should be permitted to use the roads specified above, (b) that on all rouds the weight of motor omnibuses should not exceed that of the type generally in use, namely, a total axle load of two tons, and (c) that on the specified roads no loaded lorry should exceed in weight the loaded omnibus.
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It will also be necessary to provide by regulation a maximum scale of fares for the motor omnibuses in order to prevent any exploitation of the public when railway passenger services are closed.
16. We therefore frame our scheme for balancing the railway revenue and expenditure on the general basis of closing down all passenger services. This is the only method, in our view, of securing definite reduction in the present excessive cost of the Railway Department.
There is, however, one section of the passenger services which should be capable of being run at a profit. We refer to the trains on the Midland section between Port Louis and Curepipe which in the morning bring business men from the suburban area to the capital and which bring them back to their homes in the evening. It is true that the costing figures of this section are at present:-
Passenger receipts
Expenditure
(dependent, Rs.300,108, independent, Rs.412.245.)
Rs.
309,881
712,353
But these are the charges for twelve trains each way, and the down trains in the morning, the up trains in the afternoon, and the middle-day trains are certainly unprofitable.
We propose, therefore, that there should be a suburban service on this line consisting of three up trains and three down trains running at half-hour intervals at the business hours, and in addition a work- men's train and a schoolboys' train each way. As this would be a one-way service and trains would not cross each other, the cost of the service would be low, and as such a large proportion of overhead charges have, as we have explained in paragraph 7, been transferred to the goods services under the reduction scheme, no additional overhead costs would be necessary. This business service would give facilities in the suburban area exactly at the times when they are most required and when there would be most risk of overcrowding on the omnibuses. These conditions apply solely to the suburban area and not to the services on other lines. The late Acting General Manager, whom we asked to work out the costs of this business service, estimated that the additional expendi- ture would be Rs.129,000 and the additional revenue Rs.140,000,
The additional costs would be distributed :—
A. Permanent Way
B. Mechanical
C. Transportation
Rs.
13,000
41,380
75,000
Total
129,380
139
We are content to accept these figures, though we believe that The total revenue of the more profit would actually be made. section being at present Rs.300,000 it seems probable that as much as half of that amount should be derived from the trains which run in the business hours.
We have mentioned only the business trains, but we do not intend to exclude a Sunday service at the time when trains are most needed, or an occasional special service, such as a race train, so long as there is a clear expectation that the trains can be worked at a profit.
17. We recommend, therefore, that the railway passenger services should be discontinued except for the five trains each way on the Port Louis-Curepipe line. The goods services should be maintained as at present, subject to such readjustment in the time-table as may be found to be necessary and economical.
The expenditure in round figures will then stand as follows:—
Rs.
A. Permanent Way
B. Mechanical
C. Traffic
E. General
'Total
246,000
251,000
578,000
83,000
1,158,000
With the safeguards which we have recommended it should be possible to anticipate the following revenue:—
Sugar Canes General Goods
Passengers Miscellaneous
Total
Rs.
870,000
250,000
140,000
70,000
1,330,000
The employment of staff on the special passenger service will make it possible to reduce by Rs.33,000 the cost of the pensións and gratuities due to the large reductions, but the additional de- mand under this head will nevertheless be Rs.116,000.. We have, however, pointed out that the fact that there will be additional, but not permanent, charges for pensions cannot be used as an argument for not taking drastic steps to reduce the railway deficit. The normal charges for pensions are Rs.120,000, against which may be set interest receipts amounting to Rs.21,000.
With the addition of these charges the scheme shows a deficit of Rs.43,000, and it makes no provision for depreciation. But