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The New Zealand Railways Magazine, Volume 3, Issue 2 (June 1, 1928)

Railway Electrification Success

Railway Electrification Success

The Southern Railway is generally recognised as one of the most progressive of all British lines, and the thorough-going manner in which it adopted electrification gave further proof of the management's determination to provide modern service. It is therefore interesting to read in “The Times” weekly edition of 1st March, that “no passage in General Baring's speech at the previous week's meeting of the Southern Railway could have given the stockholders more gratification than that in which he demonstrated the success of the electrification policy.

The number of passengers carried in the electrified area was, he pointed out, still going ahead by leaps and bounds, and notwithstanding the opening of the City and South London Tube to Morden, which deprived them of about 4,000,000 passengers during the year, there was still an increase in the number of passengers carried in the electrified area of 7,250,000 compared with 1925. By the electrification of the system, and by the large extension of cheap fares, the company can, in our view, not only meet motor competition, but also take advantage of it. The more frequent service which electrification permits enables the company to offer a service comparable in facility with that of the motor omnibus, and by cheap bookings it can take advantage of the universal travelling habit which the motor has created. It is important to bear in mind that the motor conveyance is not merely a competitor of the railway, but is also an ally, inasmuch as it has popularised travel. In the present year capital expenditure will, General Baring stated, again be considerable—namely, about £2,750,000, of which about £750,000 is required for Southampton dock extensions.”

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”The Franz Josef Glacier, with its magnificent surroundings forms one of the most wonderful sights in the world.” —James Mackintosh Bell. (Publicity Dept. Photo) The World-Famed Franz Josef Glacier, Westland, New Zealand.

The Franz Josef Glacier, with its magnificent surroundings forms one of the most wonderful sights in the world.”
James Mackintosh Bell.
(Publicity Dept. Photo)
The World-Famed Franz Josef Glacier, Westland, New Zealand.