The Press SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 16, 1974 The Rangatira

Press, Volume CXIV, Issue 33693, 16 November 1974, Page 16

The Press SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 16, 1974 The Rangatira

The future of the ferry service between Lyttelton and Wellington has been uncertain for almost a vear. The Government’s decision to renew its contract with the Union Steam Ship Company to run the Rangatira on its present schedule merely prolongs this uncertainty for another six months. Any expectation that a decision about the nature of the permanent senice, if any. that should be maintained between the two ports will be easier to make in six months time is surely misplaced. What new information is the next six months expected to produce, while the temporary, heavily-subsidised service competes for freight with the also-subsidised railway service? A comprehensive transport plan for the whole country will be expensively bought if the Government continues to postpone making crucial decisions until a complete plan is evolved.

If the sendee is ever to attract enough travellers back to compete, as a passenger service, with alternative means of travelling between Christchurch and Wellington, the reintroduction of a nightly sailing in each direction must be considered. This would require two ships and, therefore, high capital investment For a freight sendee alone such frequent and predictable sailings would not be needed, but the alternatives already offered by the Coastal Trader and the rail link through Picton make a regular sendee between Lyttelton and Wellington less important than it was some years ago. The free play of market forces, subject to certain safeguards, should produce the most efficient and economic transport system. The Government has a right, and a duty, to interfere with market forces if the most efficient and economic system has serious social drawbacks or causes environmental damage. The Government must already have enough information about the probable use and cost of the alternative services that could be offered to be able to decide what the service should be and what Government support, if any, it should be given. In the meantime, while the Government procrastinates, continuing uncertainty about the service is hampering sound economic planning, particularly in Canterbury.