RAILWAY FACILITIES

Dominion, Volume 19, Issue 119, 13 February 1926, Page 8

RAILWAY FACILITIES

CONGESTION AT THORNDON NEW STATION TO BE BUILT WHEN LAND IS RECLAIMED THE 1924 PROGRAMME BEING MAINTAINED According to an official statement the question of building a new railway station and yards in Wellington depends on the progress made with the reclamation, which is stated to be well up to the time planned. As soon as sufficient land is reclaimed the railway yards will be shifted from Bunny Street, and the new station commenced. A deputation from the Wellington Chamber of Commerce, consisting of Messrs. G. Mitchell, J. T. Martin, W. Simm, A. Fletcher, and the secretary (Mr. H. S. Fairchild), waited upon the Railway Board of Management in connection with the congestion at the Thorndon railway station and the general terminal facilities.

Mr. Martin referred to the inadequate accommodation for handling passenger traffic, the attitude taken up by the department in refusing permission to the platform of friends, parents, and guardians accompanying children who were leaving by trains, and suggested that with a comparatively small expenditure the station buildings might be extended or some temporary structures built on the vacant grounds at present used for vehicular traffic. When Will Improvements Commence? Mr. Mitchell referred to the whole question of the facilities at the terminus, and stated that not only was there very grave inconvenience in regard to passenger traffic, but this applied also to the transport of goods. He asked the board, in view of the early completion of the training wall and the progress made with the reclamation work, if they could state when the new railway station would be likely to be completed, and if it was intended to make any temporary pro'vision in the meantime. He also asked when it was proposed to commence the Tawa Flat tunnel and the alteration of the railway yard, so as to make it possible to commence building the station at Bunny Street. Air Simm endorsed what the other speakers had said, and gave instances of hardship and inconvenience that had come under his notice. Department Doing Its Best. Replying to the deputation, Mr. F. J. Jones made it clear that the Department was anxious to complete tne scheme planned out, and to improve the general conditions. He did not agree that the congestion was as serious as the deputation made out,, and stated that the Department was doing its best to overcome the disabilities, and, further, they had no intention of inflicting hardship on parents and guardians in such cases as the deputation brought before their notice. In regard to the larger question of building a new station and yards,- this depended on the progress made with the reclamation, which was well up to the time planned. So soon as there was sufficient land reclaimed, the railway vards would be shifted from Bunny Street, and the new railway station commenced. The programme outlined in 1924, which provides for the following expenditure was being maintained: — _ . Wellington Tawa Flat New Yard. Deviation.

Temporary Additions Not Justified. The chairman of the Railway Board said he saw no reason why the work should not be completed in accordance with the programme. The wall had been completed a year before its time, and a very large amount of the filling was already done. The board anticipated that passenger traffic would be diverted to its new terminal some considerable time before the whole work was completed. The suggestion of altering or adding to the present station would involve an expenditure which would have to be written off within three years, and this expenditure would have to come out of the revenue, and, considering the length of time it would serve, it is questionable if the expenditure would be justified. He promised, however, to give the whole matter his further consideration In reply to the question about Tawa Flat tunnel, Mr. Jones stated it was intended that this work should be commenced during the coming year. The deputation thanked the Board, on behalf of the Chamber of Commerce. for their considerate attitude, and intimated thev would wait the result of the Board’s further investigation into the passenger traffic.

£ £ 1st year (1925) 80,000 75,000 2nd year (1926) 130,000 150,000 3rd vear - (1927) 160,000 225,000 ■ 4 th year (1928) 210,000 250,000 5th year (1929) 235,000; 250,000 6th year (1930) 220,000 — 7th year (1931) 40,000 — £1,075,000 £950,000