NEW RAILWAY STATION

Press, Volume C, Issue 29524, 27 May 1961, Page 9

NEW RAILWAY STATION

Details Given To Engineers

The total expenditure on the new Christchurch railway station was about £3j million, said the district engineer (Mr G. Shrimpton) at the monthly meeting of the Canterbury branch of the Institution of Engineers this week, according to a supplied report. Mr Shrimpton said the figure included the yard alterations and the Waltham road and Colombo street overbridges. The senior architect of the Railways Department in Wellington <Mr I. M. Clarkson) said the extensive use of bronze, marble and other materials of quality was justified as it was confidently expected that maintenance would be negligible. The route-setting svstem planned for the near future would be one of the most modern in the world, said Mr B. D. Nash, resident engineer (signals). The signalman would only need to press two buttons. A for the starting point and B for the destination and the system would then automatically select the shortest available route between these points, operate all the signals reouired to pass the train along the route, and clear the signals after the train had passed. Mr Shrimpton said it was not widely known that the Railways Department had a communication system which enabled one railwayman to talk to any other in any part of New Zealand by direct dialling and in the time it took to make a local public call. Mr J. A. Fraser, communications engineer. Wellington, said the telephone equipment in the new station was modern. not only by New Zealand standards, but by world standards He said time was important to any railwayman. Immediate communication was therefore essential.