SOUTH INDIAN RAILWAY

Dominion, Volume 26, Issue 69, 14 December 1932, Page 10

SOUTH INDIAN RAILWAY

Bridge Mile and a Half Long TWO GAUGES ARE USED Having been in India for 21 years, except for four years of war service in Mesopotamia and periods on furlough, Mr. A. C. Flower, an English civil engineer connected with the South Indian Railway Co., Ltd., arrived by the Monowai yesterday. He is accompanied by his wife and family and has come to New Zealand on a holiday visit. Mr. Flower said that the railway company by which be is employed owns about 2500 miles of lines, on someor which there is the broad gauge of sft. 6in., and on the remainder the standard French metre gauge of approximately 3t't. 3 3-Siu. The main line runs from Madras to an.island off the mainland, reached by one of the largest bridges in India, from which connection is maintained with Ceylon by means of an efficient ferry service. The bridge, which is one mile and a half long, consists of l«0 spans of 40 feet, and one span of 200 feet which can bo raised to allow shipping to pass through the deep-water channel. The railway company, which has a s capital of 14 million rupees, all but one million of which was subscribed by the Government, employs many natives and half-castes in the minor official positions, and it is intended that eventually 75 per cent, of the company's officers shall be of Indian , extraction. ..