East Coast Railway

Dominion, Volume 27, Issue 188, 8 May 1934, Page 11

East Coast Railway

Sir, —I cannot help thinking that the people in Poverty Bay have been very badly treated in regard to railway access to their province. Every other little place throughout New Zealand has its railway, opening up in many cases land which is almost worthless. . Yet Poverty Bay, with its thousands of acres of magnificent land, has to depend upon road transport. No one can deny that as a matter of simple justice a railway should have been put through from Hawke’s Bay to Gisborne years ago.. When one. considers the large sum of money which has already been spent in building portions of I this line, aud the great area of splendid country to be opened up, it seems un- ’ reasonable in the face o f the large number of unemployed men in New Zealand that this work is not completed. It certainly doesn’t say much for the political pull of the Poverty Bay residents or this line would have gone through lone ago. If it is a question of paying its way, I will venture to say there are very few, if any, lines in the British Dominions, at all events no Government ones, that do. But is it not possible for a line to be a paying proposition indirectly, even though directly it may be run at a considerable annual loss? ■ We all know that there are numerous works being carried, out in and around the large centres which although they are costly will bring in no revenue at all. It is clearly one of two things, either the large sum of money that has already been spent on the Gisborne railway was justified, or it was thrown away for political purposes. If this rich province had the advantage of a good reliable seaport there might be some slight excuse for the unjust treatment it has received. When considering the merits of the East Coast railway, it must be borne in mind that its completion would benefit practically the whole of the North Island. And it is impossible for any district to develop fully without proper .access. As instancing the disabilities .with which this province has to contend, killing charges on fat stock are approximately l-Bd. higher in Poverty Bay than in Hawke’s Bav. And wool from coastal , bays north of Gisborne has to be sent by ' coastal boats to Napier and Wellington. Sheep and cattle have to be driven by road or lorried most of the way from , Gisborne to Napier, or vice versa, or shipped by coastal boat. The cost of tunnelling and viaducts required to complete the East Coast railway would certainly not be more than the depreciation on works already almost completed. Finally, I would say that the patience and forbearance shown by the people of the East Coast deserves this overdue reward. —1 am ’ etC ” G. F. MOORE. 'Bushy Park, May 4. >: