“Repercussions if ferry not ordered”

Press, Volume CX, Issue 32407, 21 September 1970, Page 16

“Repercussions if ferry not ordered”

t.Vew Zealand Press Association) DUNEDIN, September 20. To defer the ordering of a fourth Cook Strait rail ferry for the Wellington-Picton service might have serious repercussions on the economic growth of the country, the Minister of Railways (Mr Gordon) said in a statement today.

He was commenting on claims by the Timaru and Otago Harbour Boards that the decision to order a fourth ferry should be deferred until the efficiency of other modem forms of coastal shipping could be gauged. “I want to make it quite clear,” he said, “that there will still be considerable tonnage available for other coastal vessels trading between the North and South Islands. “Traffic forecasts show that the share of inter-island freight carried in railway waggons will exceed the capacity of three rail ferries soon after the third ferry enters service at the end of 1971. This demand demonstrates the convenience and economy of the service. "It would be quite wrong to deliberately allow the Railways Department to have to refuse the demands of its customers for transport.”

There was every justification for proceeding with the calling of tenders for a fourth ferry, he said. He assured all concerned that the Government had considered all relevant information in arriving at its decision.