THE MYSTERY OF A RAILWAY.

Auckland Star, Volume LVII, Issue 16, 20 January 1926, Page 6

THE MYSTERY OF A RAILWAY.

The position of the poor old Talime, ! awaiting her death off the harbour or i Waikokopu, in Hawke's Bay. where she i is to form part of the protective works, [ j lias redirected attention to one of the ; j mysteries of riie _C«w Zealand railways. I j Why was the Waikokopu branch railway ! j ever constructed? It has cost over half! I a million. For some time it has carried j ; traffic, but according to one of the Public j I Works Department's engineers it is very I unlikely to pay any interest on the cost ! jof construction. We have several times | i drawn attention to this scandal. The ; ' line, which rinds an outlet in a small I ! * I ; harbour at the northern end or Hawke's i Bay, was hud down because the Wairoa j \ River silted up. and the port of the . . Wairoa district was blocked. The work ; was authorised during tile lifetime of the ! Coalition Government. It was not only ■ the line that had to be built; the bar- I ! hour had to be developed, and apparently j j that development is not yet completed, j iit is curious that this line was pushed j lon quickly, and plenty of money found for it. though other lines had stronger ■ claims. The Government committed i itself to the enterprise before Mr. Coates overhauled public works policy and methods, but Mr. Coates has not inter- | fered with the line. There it is, a branch line that will never pay. completed just about the time when the policy of multiplying branch lines was overhauled and the ideal of sound finance in railway construction and management was raised aloft. All this baa been done to benefit mainly a few large sheepowners at the expense or the taxpayer. Clearly there was a strong pull when the Waikokopu line was authorised, and it would be very interesting to knowexactly what it was. ! =