OVER £3,000,000.

Auckland Star, Volume LXVII, Issue 226, 23 September 1936, Page 9

OVER £3,000,000.

TAWA FLAT SCHEME. RAILWAY DEVIATION. practically COMPLETED. (By Telegraph.—Parliamentary Heporter.) WELLINGTON, this day. The Tawa Flat railway deviation, which is practically completed, but which will not be operated until March or April of next year, provides a much straighter line than the present de\ ious and steep route on the Main Trunk out of Wellington. It lops off two and a quarter miles of the total distance, and by means of two tunnels cuts the sum mit off the tremendous rise at P re climbed on the outward journey Wellington, thus saving a considerable amount of time on this section. The new line starts off with a ramp graded 1 in 110 immediately beyond Kaiwarra station yafd, and crosses e Hutt Road just past the new road to | Khandallah. The crossing is by means of a railway over-bridge, the line plunging into a tunnel. The difference in the grading of the new line I «^ n £ e realised when it is explained that the line at present being used when it leaver, the level starts off at a grade of * n 45, and a portion of the long climb o Khandallah is as steep as I in 36, while the major portion of the distance is graded steeper than 1 in 50. The grade of the new line, on the other hand, is nowhere greater than 1 in 100. . Long Tunnel. j The first tunnel is over three-quarters «f a mile long. It emerges from the Ngahauranga Gorge, over which it is carried by a bridge. After only lo chains in the open the line enteis e second longest tunnel in New Zealand, a straight "hole through the lull, graded at one in 110. It extends for two miles 53 chains on a line that takes it right under the heart of the suburb of Johnsonville. It then emerges into

the open on the left hand side of the main road half a mile beyond the Johnsonville main road crossing. The line crosses the main road half a mile further on. A mile beyond Johnsonville the track runs alongside the main road on the right-hand side, joining up with the present main line, the junction being slightly beyond .Tawa Flat station, a point 11J miles distant from Wellington by the present circuitous route. This amounts to a saving of two and a quarter miles, the new route covering nine and a quarter miles of construction. Difficult Route. The present route out of Wellington is one of the most difficult of any adjacent to a city. The existing line at present in use in the short distance of four miles from Wellington to Khandallah rises' 492 ft above sea level, and then in the next half mile rises again to a height of 518 ft, after passing through seven small tunnels. The highest point on the new line is 195 ft, thus making a saving in the climb of 323 ft. It is estimated that when the line is operated early next year the annual saving in haulage will amount to £40,000. j For the whole length of the deviation the permanent way is a double-track line, and from Wellington to Paekakariki the line will be electrified. When the trains reach Paekakariki from northern districts the heavy steam engines will be taken off, powerful electric locomotives taking their place; and leaving Wellington the trains will be hauled bv the same type of locomotives, these being also changed at Paekakariki. Huge Undertaking. The Tawa Flat deviation scheme is portion of one huge undertaking for the improvement of railway facilities at Wellington, the whole scheme costing over £3,000,000. This undertaking includes the railway station at Wellington, new railway yards, the reclamation of 09 acres of,the foreshore, and the construction of a retaining wall that cost £200,000. The station and new yards i are nearing completion, the permanent ' way is finished, and early next year, when the electric locomotives arrive and the signalling equipment is installejl, the new deviation will be placed in permanent use. Thorndon and Lambton stations will disappear, and Wellington will have a central station for all rail traffic.