SOUTH ISLAND RAILWAYS.

Auckland Star, Volume LXI, Issue 65, 18 March 1930, Page 6

SOUTH ISLAND RAILWAYS.

It is argued that the action of theljf Company in calling for tenders four.-.- : 'J : ' steamer for the Wellington-Lyttelton i.-I is a challenge to the Government. Surely ® argument bears the other way. Does effort to cater for the traffic imply fen If the company of the railway competitioi Jl this should really be a stimulating amS in favour of the Government work? We are shown that the railwayst losing heavily, and will no doubt go on 1® on many feeder lines; it seems evidentti it is only the long-distance lines that ij made to pay. The Prime Minister, reaM this, decided to discontinue branch lines,\ turn his efforts to the completion of the'lli Trunk, this being the policy he announced his pre-election speeches. Few people seen realise that from Ward to Parnassus tin finished gap is a distance of only 72 miles d when this link is constructed it completesl Main Trunk railway system from Opna,i( almost extreme north, to Invercargill, tfeji. treme south, and it is this Main Trunk it alone that will withstand motor compjta Sir Joseph Ward is at this late date oly completing' the policy of that great statesas, Sir Julius Vogel, who in the early 'epes borrowed £10,000,000 for the constructs ol Main Trunk lines, and I venture to sugest that, had his policy been carried out oesSways to-day would be a good paying prop tion, and be in a position to combat m traction. The argument that the traffic fa Wellington to Lyttelton would still be card by water is not borne out by past experisa, as no sooner was the North Island lis Trunk completed than we had the withiin! of all East Coast and most of the West Cai passenger steamers. The completion ol tl railways to Whangarei and Tauranga Ml similar effect; the Northern Company wifldrew its passenger boats. The argument tit the directors of the Union Company, as ness men, would not launch out in 1 expenditure if they were not going to wis 'that trade may be their present motive,h> they must also be given credit to be far-saj enough to know their vessels will evenl'Jy come into the shorter distance run from W? ton to Picton, of less than three hours, raft at present fares, would be proportionately,' more profitable route to them. tance from Picton to Christchurch is onlj» miles, allowing 28 miles per hour, our pij® average express train speed, this portion ot tfl journey would be done in a little over tzi hours, which, with the time occupied in ® s ing the Straits, three hours, would; WM total of ten to eleven hours. It if wetet difficult to see how Messrs. Fay arrived at the conclusion that it woilir longer than the present twelve to fourtifi hour ferry service. It does seem to BV the face of these facts, that thopeople have reasonably strong grounds completion of their line, and we , allow parochialism to hinder the , ister in carrying out a great national, taking. NOKTHJaw .