The Birmingham age-herald., 1907-05-11
RAILROADS MUST MOVE ID THE NEW
 STATION JULY 1 Southern Officials Here YeSter- day Went Over Final Plans
 for the Change
ACKERT AND GULF TALK OF TRAFFIC CONDITIONS
The Situation Is Greatly Improved In the Birmingham District-New Freight Terminals Will
 Soon Be Ready.

l The new union passenger station will not be completed before October 1, but all the railroads that are to use 1t will oc- cupy their new quarters on July 1, and handle all passenger business at that point. These facts were announced yes terday as a result of the conference of Southern railway officials with local of- ficials of the Terminal company. Temporary sheds are now being erected on the south end of the new station for 1 handling trains and construction will be pushed on the main building so that the offices in the new quarters may be used on and after July 1. While the north end of the structure will not be completed at that time, there will be ample room to | handle the passenger traffic of the five lines that will change their terminals from the present Louisville and Nash vile depot. These roads are the South ern. the Queen and Crescent the Central of Georgia, the Frisco and the Seaboard Air Line
 1 The contract for terminal passenger fa- 1 cilities between these roads and the Louis- vile and Nashville road expired Janu- ary 1, and it was expected early in the year that the new depot would be ready 1 for occupation about this time, and prepa- | rations were made at the Louisville and l Nashville station for the change. New office furniture was ordered and a com plete supply of tickets was also ordered, but the clerical force was disappointed when moving day was postponed for six months.
 l It had been thought lately that a fur ther postponement would occur and that no change would take place until fall. but it was learned yesterday that the ulti- matum of the Louisville and Nashville road had been issued, and that the other roads must make the change not later than July 1.
 The visiting officials of the Southern railway included J. M. Culp, vice presi- dent in charge of traffic; c. H. Aclert, vice president and general manager, and J. S. B. Thompson of Atlanta, general agent. MT. Thompson returned home yesterday afternoon, Mir. Culp left for Atlanta at midnight, and MT. Ackert will leave for Memphis this morning.
 "The transportation service of the Southern Is being improved steadily" said MT. Ackert yesterday and 1t Is now in good shape, compared with conditions ex isting a few months ago. Car shortage and general congestion last winter nat uraly caused shippers to complain. Ow ing to the great volume of traffic orig mating in the Birmingham district, the complaints from this section were loud est and most persistent. The transporta- ton department concentrated It's ener- gies here, and today complaints on the part of Birmingham shippers are few and far between.
 We will continue to look well after the district and do our best to furnish all
 the cars needed and move freight with reasonable dispatch"
 MT. Culp fast night explained the ob- ject of the present trip of the officials. MT. Culp is accompanied on this trip by Mrs. Culp, who has greatly enjoyed her visit to Birmingham for the past two days, as she has many friends here.
 MT. Culp stated that the present trip of his party is for the purpose of in- specting transportation facilities all along
 
 demands particular attention, owing to the great 1:d varied interests of the Southern railway In this district
 We are finding transportation condi- tions much better than they have ever been," said MT. Culp, and we can now furnish more cars for the increased bus mess of the road. Our passenger sche- dulles are being more closely carried out than heretofore and wherever we find a need for improvement we take steps to fulfil the demand.
 Our road will get into the new station on July l, as well as the other roads that will enter there. The station will not be completed at that time but will be suf- fciently near completion to allow a proper handling of the passenger traffic over these roads.
 "The new freight station of the South ern Is almost completed ana will soon be opened up to the freight traffic of the road and greatly facilitate the handling of freight at this point. The immense freight yards which we are constructing at Wood lawn will be pushed to completion during the year. The work on this part of the local improvements has been much de- layed but will soon be taken up again with vigor.
 "The interests of the Southern railway in Birmingham and the Birmingham dis trict are very great and demand constant ly improved facilities for handling the business, and we are striving to keep up with the remarkable development of this wonderful city.
 Someone questioned me the other day regarding the population of the district and I said that there were 125,OO0 people in the district. Am I right?"
 Being assured that this was the mini mum estimate MT. Culp continued: T knew I had not overestimated the dis trict and I was also sure that Jefferson county contained a population of 200,000 These facts show what is demanded of the railroads centering here, for the rapid increase of population demands continu- ally increased railroad facilities, and that we are endeavoring to give.
 What the people want is better trans portRtion facilities and not so much a cut in rates as recent legislation has sought to indicate. The problem is now before the public and will continue to be discussed and has been discussed for the Southern railway by President Finley, whose views have been given consider f, fk,x <>f <t,o