TRANSPORT FROM LYTTELTON

Press, Volume LXXXII, Issue 24982, 17 September 1946, Page 3

TRANSPORT FROM LYTTELTON

SHORTAGE OF RAILWAY WAGGONS MINISTER DISCUSSES PROBLEM “I realise your difficulties, and I want you to realise ours,” said the Minister of Railways (the Hon. R. Semple) to a deputation representing the commercial and transport industries which yesterday appealed to him to endeavour to solve the problem of the bottleneck in railway goods traffic between Lyttelton and Christchurch. “Though the guns have ceased to roar and the bombs to drop, the aftermath of the war is with us. That is conveniently forgotten by a lot of people in this country for political reasons, and no other. We are conscious of the difficulties that do exist and will exist for some time. We are short of waggons.” The first of the order for 3000 waggons placed in Britain was expected to arrive in New Zealand in January, said the Minister. No reasonable citizen would have expected Britain to make waggons for New Zealand during the war, when the New Zealand railway workshops were turned almost into war manufacturing concerns. The manpower problem was with New Zealand, although, on the other hand, he was told the department had too many men and should dismiss them.

“How are you going to get men into the mines or jungle?” asked Mr Semple, discussing the shortage of coal, cement, and other materials. “You can’t conscript them. You can’t lead them into the coal mines and force them to work there, or on the wharves. These problems are the aftermath of the war, and we have to struggle with them and not get impatient.” There had been a glut of ships at Lyttelton, over which no-one in New Zealand had control. They had to get their heads together to deal with the problems that arose. The business of the country had to go on, and stuff could not be left rotting oh the ships or wharves. Merchandise was wanted in the country. The shortage of labour was a national and international problem; machinery wqs also needed; and it would take years for the world to get back to economic equilibrium. Discussing the long-term view—the building of the tunnel road—Mr Semple reaffirmed that he was not going to put a tunnel through the hill and cauSe congestion in the port “with a frightful bottleneck.” The tunnel would go through as soon as they could get rid of the bottleneck. The 10-year plan was not the last word to be said in planning, and it should include things that were desirable, in order of priority. From the view of industrial development the South Island had better attractions than the North Island, because four times the quantity of was available. The common-sense thing to do was to bring industry where the power was; not to take power from the South Island to the North Island. He was in as big a hurry as anybody to get things done.’ The District Traffic Manager (Mr F. S. Gray) said that 3000 waggons were involved daily in movements, 1500 being on West Coast traffic, and when 600 to 700 were used unloading shipping the department was up against it for waggons. Mr Gray said that a big factor was the time-lag between taking goods off ships and placing in the sheds. A big percentage of the cargo took time to sort. When sorting was taking place carriers could deal with the traffic; but when straight lines were being delivered there would be congestion. A request was made to Mr Semple that 1500 of the 3000 waggons arriving from Britain should be allocated to Canterbury; but Mr Semple replied that alb the waggons would not be arriving at once. Another 700 waggons were on order from the railway workshops.

Mr Semple also said that the Commissioner of Works (Mr A. R. McKillop) and he (the Minister) would visit Lyttelton to discuss the methods of handling the traffic problems arising from the opening of the tunnel road as soon as a date was fixed.