TE ARO RAILWAY.

Dominion, Volume 6, Issue 1792, 3 July 1913, Page 11

TE ARO RAILWAY.

GOODS STATION SCHEME,

STRONG PROTESTS VOICED,

MINISTER'S STATEMENT.

Reasons why the project of erecting a goods station ut To Aro should not be proceeded witlu were stressed by a joint deputation of the Wellington Harbour Board and of tho Wellington. Chamber of Commerce, which waited upon the Prime Minister yesterday. The deputation was introduced by tho Hon. A. L. Herdman (Minister for Justice), as member for Wellington North, and other Ministers besides the Priiue Minister present to hear the deputation were the Hon. W. H, Herries (Minister for Railways) and the Hon! F. M. i). Fisher (Minister for Marine), Harbour Endowments. Mr. R. Fletcher, chairman of the Harbour lioard, .said the . deputation would urge some reasons why tne laud whidh tne Railway Department proposed to acquire from tho Harbour Board at Te Aro should not be acquired. The 'land had been reclaimed by the board over a very long period, in order tnat it might assist the board to get revenue to carry out .necessary development works for the improvement of the harbour. The land won Irjni the sea by the board had been gradually taken away from them, and devoted to. purposes other than those for which it was intended. The area, of land at Te Aro was 18 acres, and the oost to date of. the reclamation had been .£92,093. When the required fillings were made to complete tho work, the estimated cost would be ,£113,156. The total valuation was ,£11)1,701. Of this land the railway proposed to take 9J acres, and tho board were most anxious to retain it as an endowment. Tne Wellington Harbour Board was in'a totally different ■ position from that of the Auckland Board. Auckland received last year from its endowments .622,000, Whereas Wellington got only about .13000 per annum, with the result that all contemplated new works had to be dono out of revenue. The board, however, looked forward to ,the tune when increasing revenuo from endowments would help them to keep down the port Charges, and to make Wellington a hrstclass port. But if all tho lands reclaimed were to be taken away from the board, they would haVe to put up the oharges, in order to find money wherewith to provide extra accommodation. This,would, of course, be detrimental not only to the port, but to tli9 city, and to tho whole Ui6triot which the port served. Bad Business for the Railway. It had been stated by tho petitioners for tho Te Aro project tnat a great volume of goods would 1)0 carried to Te Aro, but anyone who knew anything about tho business of the city would be able to confound that statement at once. On the contrary ( the whole trend of the traffic of the city was towards the Thorndon end; the development of the wharf system was towards the north, and all the business was done between the wharves end the railway stations at the northern end. A small quantity of goods would go to To Aro, but in order to take it there the Department would have to break trains, and they could not do this without extra charge. If they did 60 they would be doing an injustice to the rest of the country. Tho. increased cost would probably bo as great as the extra cost of cartago from the central station would be. It would cost the Government a great deal to acquire the land at Te Aro, build a goods-shed and yard .there,'-arid-to carry goods to it afterwards; and' in his opihion the money could •be better employed in developing the bitck-blocks of Te Aro, instead of the ifacjEblookT- 1 of To' ArO reclamation; (Hear, hear.) " Need for Fixed Reveniro. Mr. C. W. Jones said that endowments were a necessity to a body like the Wellington Harbour Board. At present . they had undertaken to put up a new wharf at a cost of <£150,000. The standing charges against that wharf would be £10,000 a year, and for a number of years the wliarf would not earn anything "like that. It was therefore of very great importance to the board to have some fixed revenue. The ordinary revenuo was subject to fluctuation, being sensitive to outside influences. For instance, the London dock strike cost tho board i-1000 or, .£SOOO. If there were a general commercial depression in New Zealand, or a European or Pacific war, the board .would be laced with a considerable deficit. ' — „ The Hon. F.. M. 8.. Fisher (to Mr. Fletcher): What was this area taken for at first? . ' ' Mr. Fletcher; For the dock. Mr. Fisher: It was not for an endowment -originally? Mr.' Fletcher explained that 1 when the board abandoned the idea of making a dock at that site, they did the next best thing—reclaimed the land for themselves to serve as an endowment. The Government, however, proposed to take a great, deal more than the dock) site from the board, Central Station Should be First. Mr.' A. E. Mabin, president of the Chamber of Commerce, said the members of the chamber had come as representatives of business men of the city, and they wished to enter a protest against the Government going on with the proposal they had in hand at Te Aro. For many years past the business community of tho city had been looking forward, to tho time when a central railway station would le established at Bunny Street. They had approached various Governments on tho matter, and on each occasion they ha dbeen told that tho Government realised the necessity of improved railway facilities in Wellington, but that finances would not permit of tho work being done. The business community had put up with the inconveniences of having two stations at the northern end of the city, becauso. the time was not propitious for the building of a new central station. Now they heard that tho Government was prepared to spend .£IOO,OOO or £150,000 on a station at To [Aro, and tho business men of Wellington feared lest tho larger schemo ehoulcJTbe imperilled by this new scheme. They asked that at least the central railway station should bo given'priority of consideration, and that no railway works would ;be undertaken until the central station was established. Popular Clamour. The Government had given way to popular clainour and run passenger trains to ■ Te Aro. This experiment had proved that there was no need for theso passenger trains, and if the Government gave way in regard to goods trains to Te Aro, it would be found later that the trams would not bo required. The splitting up of the gdodb traffic of Wellington between two stations was. against the whole idea of efficiency and economy. It would be very easyifor tho business meu to accept tho doles offered, but as watchdogs they could not allow this thing to: happen , without a protest. When motor traific on the wood-blocks of Wellington • bccamo properly established it would bo found thot goods could bo transported just as cheaply by motor-lorry from a central station to Te Aro as uv rail. It would bo far better to leave the land at Te Aro to be used for factory sites for which there was very littlo space available in Wellington. As guardians of the harbour they objected to the blocking of Jervois Quay. It was the neck of Wellington, the main highway Between north and south, and it was the last £ place in New Zealand in which i Ml- [ way track and shunting yard should be. If tlie Government had money to bum, the deputation could show where it could be spent. He could name as very good objects a central railway station, and the ltimutaka deviation. Other Protests. Mr. W. G. Duthie supported the protest, voiced by the. Chamber of Commerce. He looked upon the To Aro schemo os absolutely unnecessary. Ino goods that would be carried on the extra lino would never pay for the running of the trains, and il- would pay the Dcpart.ment to undertake the tlelivory of goods from the main station to Te Aro, rather than to run goods trains down there; The trains wero now a source of danuer. wid. tho daastor would increaaa as.

the service became more frequent, and tho traffic on the street increased. Answering a question by Mr. Hcrdman, Mr. Duthie said that his firm's ware- , house was nearer to To Aro than to ttie proposed central'stations, but they would always prefer to deal with the central station and secure a quicker dispatch. ] Messrs. F. W. Martin, W. Hildreth, and i 13. G. Pilcher also spoke. J Mr. Herries Explains. Tho Hon. W. 11. Herries ww first to ; loply to tho deputation. He said that a mistaken impression seemed to be abroad its to what was the intention of tho liailway Department. He regarded ttiis To AIX) goods shed schemo as part of the scheme for the stationing of Wellington. If the Department spent money on a goods station at 'l'e Aro, they would not spend so much on a goods-shed at Bunny Street. ' The 'l'e Aro project wus part of the general scheme, and would be undertaken at the same time. He had some strong opinions as to the possibilities of 'l'e Aro; the deputation liad different opinions. Ho believed that one-third, or perhaps one-half, of tho goods inwards to Wellington would go to 'l'e Aro. Ho had no intention of imperilling the central scheme. The Te Aro station would be only an auxiliary. With regard to the running of the trains on tho street, goods traffic could be so arranged that the trains would run early in the morning and late at night. They would not run in the busy times of the day. Ho was very anxious to go on with the central station, but there were no funds, and ha was afraid nothing would bo done this year. Big works required to be done in Auckland, Christchurch, Invercargill, and Palm'erston, and the only way they could be done wag by getting Parliament to authorise a loan. The Government had power, under the Act to take the Harbour Board's land, and he had thought it only right to give the board warning that the land might be •required. He did not propose to start with the Te Aro station to-inorrow. however. • Cabinet Will Decide. Tho Hon. W. I'. Mnssey said he had been very glad to hear tho deputations. They could readily understand _that i this was a matter on -whichnnto t individual Minister could express a definite opinion, and the deputations had therefore been fortunate in being able to put tlieir views before four' Ministers. The question was for Cabinet to consider, and it would bo his duly to convey to the other Ministers what the deputation had said. So far as the main railway station in Wellington was concerned, though ho did not profess to know what was proposed, anyone who knew anything about the position must know that Wellington needed a railway station very badly. There were two stations, and neither of them was lit for a third or fourth-class New Zealand town. Tho Government had no intention of interfering with the facilities of the harbour, but, on the other hand, were anxious to assist and to work with the board. The Government would not interfere unnecessarily with the conduct of the harbour. Mr. Fletcher said he knew tho. Government did not want to interfere the administration of the harbour, but they were proposing to interfere with the board's revenue. WELLINGTON RAILWAY MATTERS. (To tho Editor.) ■ -sir,—As a member of the deputation which to-day waited on I, like others, out of respect to Ministers' time, failed to state a phasa of tho ease that 6hould have been stated. Seeing, further, that individual mombers of tho Ministry hold differing opinions as to necessity, or otherwise of a goods depot at '1© Aro, it may be well that I, as representing a country district on the Harbour Board, and as president of tho. Masterton Chamber of Commerce, should state a phase that was at least not emphasised this morning. It is desirable to get the products of tho country .to tho ultimate consumer as expeditiously and as economically as possible; hence, seeing that tho markets are at To Aro, it would appear at first sight that a station alongside the market-place is of the utmost importance, and so with all industries, means of transport materially affect tne cost to producer or consumer.- Isow, how does this affect my constituencyprimary producers—as applied to the le Aro scheme.. First, at .the lowest osti- , mate, the Te Aro land sidings and. sheds would cost, say, . £120,000—tho Eailway Department have to earn fo-r its shareholders interest on that money to justify its investment. It is admitted, that theTo Aro scheme could not deal with all the traffic, but would only be a subsidiary station to the main- good 6 yard and sheds, which mil of necessity bo at Thorridon. , Nowy assume that a tram of twenty wagons arrive at the main station, throe of these carry perishabo goods for the markets, a milo and a halt distant, but within a quarter of a milo of To Am> station,-which would- be tho quickest and most economical means oftransit? -Would the fully-equipped central organisation, with its appliances, deliver per vans and lorries to maxket more quickly than the morning and night service by rail, or indeed by any desirable rail scheme? I judgo that the customer who relied on tho central scheme would, be ahead of his rival, yet we are asked to spend £120,000 to equip the rival. _ I submit that in Wellington's own interest, that £120,000 can be better spent in making more accessible tho Waira-rapa on the line to which we are assumed tho Kailway. Department loses £20,0C0 per year in climbing hills by devious ways, which can readily be avoided, while the country producer is penalised -to an even greater extent in that his product does not reach market under fair conditions. The folly of the misuse of the Harbour Board's lands reclaimed at great .cost, as is proposed by the Minister for Railways in his Te Aro scheme, should rouse every W'4lington business man to study the problem of the port's development possibilities; when I judge that ho will jom with tlioso who to-day met the Ministers in protest.—l ain, etc., CHAS. E. DANIELL. Wellington, July 2.