COST OF £2,000,000

AUCKLAND TUNNEL

SCHEME

MINISTER DOUBTFUL

(By Telegraph.— Press Association.)

AUCKLAND, September 28.

The opinion that the Morningside tunnel scheme could not be made into a paying proposition from the purely railway viewpoint was expressed by the Minister of Railways (the Hon. D. G. Sullivan) when he met a deputation of members of local bodies and the Auckland Chamber of Commerce who urged the prosecution of the work. 1 Mr. Sullivan said that if the Government was prepared to take into consideration the wider aspects, then it would , Ibe a matter for the Government as a; j whole to handle, rather than for himself as Minister of Railways- At all events he would have a report prepared and would place it before Cabinet. j To carry out the scheme the Department would be faced with an estimated expenditure of £2,000,000, of which about £1,000,000 would be involved in the construction of the tunnel and a similar amount in the installation of 'electricity From the purely railway ! point of view the estimated expenditure could not possibly make the scheme a commercial proposition. Howi ever, there were certain other aspects, such as the social aspect, to which regard should be given. Mr Sullivan added that he could not give a definite answer either way, but he proposed to have a fresh examination made of the figures for both the tunnel and the electrical installation. When the ' report was prepared he would confer with Cabinet.