MAIN TRUNK LINE.

Dominion, Volume 2, Issue 334, 22 October 1908, Page 2

MAIN TRUNK LINE.

THE OPENINC FUNCTIONS. ALLEGATIONS DENIED.' It appears that the postponement of the opening of the Main Trunk line, announced yesterday, does not apply to tlie'formal ceremonies. Tho invitation trains for Makatote will leave Wellington and Auckland on Tuesday, November 3, and the driving of the last spike will take place the following day. The commemorative banquet at Auckland will be held after the train arrives there from Makatote, on Wednesday, November 4, and a spcoial. return train will leave Auckland on the Thursday evening, and reach Wellington on Friday. The regular service will be inaugurated on Monday, November 9, as was stated yesterday. A strong attack on' tho " shameless extravagance " of tho Government in running the Parliamentary "through'' train at the time of the American Fleet's visit has been made by the Dannevirke " Advocate." The " Advocate" says "it has been stated, but we do not vouch for tho truth of-the assertion, that when the metals were temporarily joined in order to permit of the passage of the Parliamentary train, a large number of rails of lesser weight than was required for the line were laid down, so that as a matter of fact a _ temporary line was actually made to bridge over a portion of tho district now travelled by the coaches. Of course, all this portion of the line has since been taken up, and a permanent structure is now being.made." The paper further stated that "if the line had been in the advanced stage it was represented to be in August last, when the Parliamentary train ran over, it should be possible to have commenced the through running by November." To these statements, Mr. H. J. H. Blow, Under-Socretary for Public Works, replies that tho only section of temporary linos laid was for a distance of three or four chains, round an embankment. The distance was so short that tho rails could be removed in a morning. The roason why the regular express service is delayed is not the necessity for allowing the metals to settle down before the fast, heavy traffic is run over them. AVhen the Parliamentary train went through, Mr. Blow says, there were 50,000 cubic feet of ballast still to be put on the line, and, though the Department has. been 1 busy, with this work ever since, and the bulk of it is now done, there is still a certain amount of ballasting to be completed. It would be quite possible to run now a regular sorvice of 21 hours or 22 hours duration, but to do that would only impede the work of final construction, and necessitate an alteration of the whole timetable in a few weeks time. From another authoritative source it is gathered that a good deal of. formation work on tho lino has yet to be done. For the passage of the Parliamentary train straight narrow gaps were cut through the cuttings,! and the sides of these must now be sloped and finished, or they would soon fall in. There are still 900 men employed upon the line, and cvorv time a train goe's'through the work of these is impeded for a certain time before and after it passes, so that a frequent service is not desired at present.