Hudson & Manhattan Railroad Company   1949 Annual Report
 

those means of travel unsatisfactory be¬
cause of the parking difficulties and traf¬
fic delays in crowded New York City and
its approaches. These passengers could
be persuaded to use the speedier and
more convenient Hudson Tubes for part
of their journey, except for the fact that
tangled traffic in the neighborhood of our
stations has made the transfer from bus
or ear to our trains even less tolerable.
Accordingly, the Company is embarking
on an extensive project to provide con¬
venient parking space for thousands of
cars and to make available ample facih-
ties for bus unloading. It is expected that
these measures will ultimately attract
millions of new riders to the Tubes.

1N ORDER to re-attract lost passengers, we
must rehabilitate the railroad. Past man¬
agements, confronting inflationary costs,
constant traffic declines and the inade¬
quacy of regulated fares, approached
this melancholy problem in terms of
drastic curtailment of expenses. Inevi¬
tably this meant reduced maintenance
and the abandonment of efforts to keep
abreast of modern developments. In turn
this resulted in making the Tubes even
less attractive to passengers.

Experience has shown that a program
based solely on retrenchment has entered
the area of diminished returns. We are
now convinced that the great potential
ahead can only be realized through the
modernization and rehabilitation pro¬
gram we have adopted.

J.HE Company's important real estate
holdings are undergoing a face-lifting to
add improved appearance and better
service to their sound construction. These
 

improvements will enable us to maintain
our position in the competition for ten¬
ants against the increasing number of
modern office buildings recently built
and under construction.

Ihe interests of the Company's stock¬
holders and bondholders dictate that we
must accomplish this program for in¬
creasing earnings with the utmost atten¬
tion to prudent handling of expenditures.
The Management is attempting to coun¬
terbalance rising costs and shorter work¬
ing hours with modern business methods
and more efficient operations. Leading
engineering consultants are assisting us
to implement our program.

VVe must keep in mind, and keep re¬
membering, that our facilities are indis¬
pensable. Then the long, tough job of re¬
habilitation that we face will not loom
so formidable. This Company needs a
two or three-year period of uninterrupted
hard work by Management, dedicated to
the proposition of providing acceptable
rapid-transit facilities to a public which
desperately needs them. With the loyalty
of our staff and the fullest cooperation of
our able officers and officials, your Com¬
pany looks forward to reaching its goal
in a manner that will combine a high
record of public service with the ample
return on investment which the long
patience of the Company's stockholders
so well deserves.

By order of the Board of Directors,