The Mason County journal. [volume] (Shelton, W.T.) 1886-1927, 1890-08-01
NOVEL SYSTEM OF RAILROAD FARES.
In Hungary One Can Travel 500 Miles fol
the Same Price $50.

In Hungary One Can Travel 300 Miles tol
the Same Price as $50.
Suppose you could 60 from Prov
incetown to San Francisco by rail fol
SO, to Chicago for $40, to Omaha fol
$1O7 A letter costs no more whether
it is bound for one place or the other
What it may lose on the long haul ii
makes up on the short. Why cannot
transportation companies do the same
Why not buy railway tickets as you
do postage stamps9 Does all this seem
absurd9 Yet European country has
adopted similar plan, and it is spread
ing throughout continental Europe.
The change to which l refer is a
novel system of railway charges which
is in operation in Hungary. The expert
ment, though radical, has apparently
been successful. Passenger rates on a
majority of the Hungarian roads are
no longer based upon the cost of serv-
ice, or upon what the traffic will bear,
or even upon the mileage. The rates
are regulated according to the Zone
system" This system has been advo-
Gated by economists in Austria and
Germany for some years, but none OF
the railroad companies was inclined to
take it up. The state railroads of Hun
gary, however, had been doing badly
under the old system; the earnings
fell from 81, 3OOa mile in 1887 to 81, 600
in 1888, and the government felt that
matters could not be worse than they
were.
Tie zone system of charges is based
upon the theory that there are two
classes of passenger traffic which can
be increased in volume-the passen-
gers travelling very short distance
and those going very long distance.
The former are generally provided for
on railroads by communication rates
the latter have not received attention
heretofore. A further point advanced
by the advocates of the zone system is
that where the cars are not occupied
to their full capacity an increase of
traffic necessitates only an infnitesi-
NAL increase of expenses. The advo-
Gates of the system, therefore, pro-
posed three zones-a short one, a long
one and a medium one. The Hun
garian railroads extended the idea
somewhat by issuing two classes of
tickets, those for zones and those for
short distances. In the latter class
were two tickets, one carrying the
holder to the next station, and sold for
five cents, seven and a half cents and
fifteen cents for third, second and first
class, and another carrying the holder
to the second station for seven and a
half, eleven and twenty cents for the
three classes, respectively.
These tickets are good between any
two contiguous stations without regard
to the actual distance, and are sold in
bulk at and 10 per cent. discount.
The zones are fourteen in number, the
circles being drawn about ten miles
apart. The fourteenth zone includes
all distances of lao miles and over.
The rate for the first zone is very low
less than seven-tenths of a cent a
mile for the lowest class, and one and
six-tenths cents for first class express
and increases more than in proper
ton to the distance through the diff
ferent zones until the rate at the four
tenth ranges from one cent to two
and one-hah cents per mile for the 14O
miles. Beyond this the rate again de-
creasea, owing to the fact that any adj
ditional distance is not charged for.
Thus trip of several hundred miles
may be made for the same price as one
of 14O.
This innovation went into effect
Aug. 1, 1889, and was introduced on
the state lines-about one half of the
total mileage of the country. Two
private companies have since adopted
the zone system. During the first
month of the new tariff the number
of passengers carried on the state
lines was increased half million and
the passenger receipts were increased
about 100000.
From the report of the Austro-Hun-
garian minister of commerce it ap-
pears that the passenger receipts OF
the Hungarian railways for 1889 were
81, 153, los tlorins, an increase of nearly
a million of forms over those of 1888
this in the face of a reduction of
rates equal to more than. so per cent.
The new system was in effect during
only five months of 1889: This extra
ordinary reduction and extraordinary
increase have excited the amazement
OF the railway world. Several foreign
railways have sent representatives to
Hungary to examine into the results
of the change and report on them
Cape Cod Item.