Clinch Valley news. [volume] (Jeffersonville, Va.) 18??-2019, 1892-07-15
THE "ZONE-TARIFF."
How Railway Faros Hcvo Boon
Greatly Reduced in hungary.

aHlnc contains IN article ON the system
recently adopted i'll hungary for mini
flying and regulating the passenger
rates on railroads in that country. The
writer says:
For the method of ballot reform
which is SO widely adopted we are in
dcbtcl To Australia; and now from
hungary we have suggestion of re-
form i'll railway management which
promises To rcvolutionizc the passenger
business.
The ''Zonctariff." as it is called. was
put i'll operation in hungary ON the LIST
of August, 1889. 1t has, therefore. but
IL brief experience To justify its pr:,cti-
cability: but the results thus far have
been 50 remarkable that its success
seems To DC assured. The method con-
sistS of IL division of the territory Of
hungary into fourteen conccntric zones,
budapest, the capital, being the center
The first zono incluGcS all stations
within 81 lIiloinctcrs-l6ii rlilra--from
the center; the second, all more than o..
and less than ~; all the zones except
the first, the twelfth and the thirteenth
are - kilomctcrs. or Il little iaor,' than
. miles in width; the three n,nlrd are,
- Isil"mct"r' III breadth. and the tunr-
teen Includes all stations, more than ~,
liilomcterS FROM the capital The fare
il regulated by the number of zones
which the traveller enter. or crosses,
during hi'; journey. Hctlucing guldrns
To cents. The rat. is ~. IL and 10 cent,
per zone. Ter first. second and thii,l-clas:,
passengers. respectively. If one start
from budapest and crosses three zones
he travels. therefore, ~ kilnnctcr.;, or
about - miles; if he goes iir,t-cl;i:,.; his
fare will lie 80 cents; ii Sccund-claSs, Is
cents; il thirl-cllsS, so cents.
For local traffic. when the traveller
does not cross the boundary of any zone.
there arc special rates: if he goes unl,
to the nearest station. the charges win
he II. q. and 1 cents: il to- the second
station from hisstarting-point. III. 81. and
cent; If To the third station, the full
rates of the zone are charged.
Tn" greatest reduction. however. l.,
i'll the long distances. For all stations
more than III tilnmcterS--I5U miles
from budapest the rates are the same.
All stations beyond that distance are
rcckoncd in the fourteenth zone. II
costs no more To travel from Eu,lnnrst
TO l;ras:", which Is 10 liilomctrrs dis
tant, than To Macy Narad, the distance
of which is only ri kilomct"rs. 10
this farthrSt point, III miles from th,
capital, the fares Of the three CLASSES
arc. for ordinary trains. 81; 20. S..:,a. and
SLIGO ut this rate the iirst-claSs fare
from New York To Chicago would ha
only about 500; and the third-class
fare about $50.
The former rates of the Hungarian
railways between the two point, no,y
under consideration were Si6.S4. Stint
and $I.dS. The fare is. therefore. less
than onc-iifth of what it was und;r The
old system.
1t Is i'll these long distances that the
reduction is most sweeping: hut even
the shorter Journeys are greatly chran-
encd. TO Ar;id, which l., III; ililonctcr,;
from l'ii,,apc:.t. the former fare for tho.
three classes was 81. III, Si.35 and S,.Us;
the present fare is S3.20, $1;s ana 81 go.
Il reduction of almost 30 per cent.
BESIDES the reduction in rates. thc
new system offers great ADVANTAGES in
the way of convenience and smnlificn-
ton. The number of distinct Ticket;
always kept on sale in every important
hotci oilice WAS formerly about 100: the
greatest number required in uny Office
is now only ~. This reduces consider
ably the expense of printing and hand
ing tickets. They arc now sold like
| postage stamps, ut news stands. post
Offices. hotels, cigar shops and other
such places. Any traveller knows what
his fare will he if he knows; how many
zones he is to cross: he simply multi
plies the number OF the zones he is to
enter or cross by the normal rate of
fare per zone. which is as has bcrn cy-
planned. twenty, sixteen and ten cents
for the three classes respectively.
for large number ri places within
n1ty-hve kilomctcrs of budapest ticket
books containing from thirty Ia sixty
tickets are issued mt rates still lower.
IhuS FOR II group of stations averaging
about twcnty-onc miles from budapest
books are sold which make the trim
iarcs sixteen, twelve and eight cents
1hcsc books arc transferable, and the
owner OF the book may pay with these
tickets the fares OF persons nccomponv-
ing nm. Evidently the purpose OF this
system is to extend these concessions
anu convcnicnccs rs widely rs possible.
and not, as often in America. to limit
ana circumscribct them SO that the small
est number of people shall yet the nd
vantage Of them.
The reader will be interested in know
ing what response has been mac. bv tho
hungarian public to these liberal meas
nrcs. The hungarian public is not par
ticnlarly responsive, the population of
the country is sparse, they are n poor.
nncnterprising, housekeeping pcoplc:
but they seem to know u good thine
when they sec it. The increase in tho
passenger traffic has been very great.
For The first eight months of In, now
system the number of passengers car
ricd was 7,710,SIG; for the corresponding
-i"hth' OF the rrlviou., year the num-
per carried was 2,S9l ,:;;:;a. II NAV Lc
supposed that this increase was mainly
due to the great reduction in the lonG.
Instance rates. On the contrary. the
gam Is the largcsti i'll the traffic between
hclghhorlng stations. OF sucl pas
'cn5crs there were under the old system
, '''o d.. under the new, l,361,5
rms vast increase of business has