RAIL-CARS FOR WELLINGTON

Dominion, Volume 29, Issue 99, 21 January 1936, Page 8

RAIL-CARS FOR WELLINGTON

Construction at Hutt SEVEN FINE VEHICLES IN HAND Ministers to Inspect Good progress is being made ou the construction of seven petrol-driven railcars at the Hutt workshops for service on railway lines in the Wellington district. Tlie new vehicles will be commissioned earl}’ in May. There is keen Ministerial interest in the prospective advent of rail-cars, and the Minister of Railways, Hon. D. G. Sullivan, accompanied by the Prime Minister, Hon. M. J. Savage, and other Ministers, will make a visit of inspection to the Hutt workshops on Thursday. The Ministers will make the trip outward in the.gencral manager’s railear, and other Ynembers of the party will return by it to town, so that all may have an opportunity of enjoying even a brief experience of the pleasantness of quick transport by rail-car. Those who have seen the constructional work on the cars at the Hutt workshops agree that the methods and merit of local manufacture will reflect high credit on New Zealand tradesmen and New Zealand industry. Already excellent work has been done —with some claims to a Dominion record in certain features of construction. Apart from the power unit, which, of course, must be imported, the railcars, as a whole, are being built in the Railway Department’s workshops It is anticipated by the authorities the vehicles, when completed, both as regards design and workmanship, will be very creditable, and exceptionally appreciable from the public point of view. The steel frames for the chassis are approximately 47 feet long. These have been hydraulically pressed and are the longest that have been turned out in New Zealand workshops. The whole of the framework is electrically welded and has no riveted work at all. Cost About £4OOO Each. The cost of each rail-car will be about £4OOO, or a little more than the cost of a first-class passenger coach for the’ Limited express between Wellington and Auckland. But the carrying capacity of the rail-car will be more than 50 per cent, greater than the express train first-class passenger coach, the car having accommodation for 49 passengers as compared with only 30 in the express carriage. Moreover, the rail-car is provided with its own power and is much more mobile—with a greater speed. It is estimated that the cost of running a rail-car, including all charges, will Ire one"shilling a mile. There appears to be good reason for the Ministerial opinion in favour of a substantial development of rail-car transport on the New Zealand railways. It is pointed out that the vehicle has long since passed the experimental stage. It has been a notable success iu other countries, and particularly In Queensland, where progress has been impressive. For the financial year, 1926-27, the mileage run by rail-cars in Queensland was 39,835 miles, but in 1934-35 the mileage for the same transport had increased to 1,645,956 miles. The net profit on rail-cars in Queensland is now so good that railway authorities prefer not to emphasise them.