NEW RAILWAY YARDS

Press, Volume LXXXIV, Issue 25445, 17 March 1948, Page 4

NEW RAILWAY YARDS

NO WORK DONE FOR < YEAR

EARLY START UNLIKELY A year has passed since any major work was done .on the new railwayyards at Christchurch, and inquiries made yesterday indicated that there was little prospect of the work being resumed for some time. Since a number of piles were driven for the Waltham road overhead bridge about 12' months ago. nothing has been done. Work on the reconstruction of the yard end buildings began in 1938, and since then three new goods sheds have been built, the Waltham yard has been reorganised, new roadways have been put down, and a new siding and a new workshop has been provided in the car yard. A new rail car depot has been erected at Linwood, and the ramps of the Waltham overhead bridge have been almost completed. Eighty per cent, of the piles for the bridge have been driven. All these undertakings are part of the plans for the new yard and station. The work still to be done includes the building of the new station, the completion of the Waltham overhead bridge, and the replacing of the whole of the railway yard between Waltham road and Colombo street, a work which will involve the relaying of many tracks, the erection of new offices and accommodation for the staff, and a new goods office. The district offices will be incorporated in the new station building. Colombo Street Bridge Last year the City Council decided to approve the proposal for an overhead bridge at Colombo street, but work on this is not likely to start for a long time. Until the Waltham road bridge is completed, the Railway DeCartment, it is understood, will not be 1 a position to raise its rails across Colombo street, an operation which .would have to be done before the rest of the work proceeded. It Is possible that the Tramway Board’s future policy, as announced some months ago, will have a bearing on the construction of the bridge. It was at first proposed to build the bridge with a grade of about 1 in 18, to allow trams with trailers to pass over it, but as the * ‘ Tramway Board’s policy will be to replace trams with buses, the bridge will possibly be steepened to a grade of perhaps 1 in 12. Factors which have held up the construction of the new yard are shortages of steel, concrete, and labour, and ,the housing priority. When the work begins dgain, the first undertaking will be the completion of tire Waltham road bridge. The station building will begin then, and the other work will be done as convenient. The Colombo street bridge will probably be the last iob done, particularly if trams are still running at that time. It is understood that when the new station is built, it will incorporate the railway telephone exchange.