WAYS OF TRAVEL

Dominion, Volume 29, Issue 199, 20 May 1936, Page 10

WAYS OF TRAVEL

Transformation Since Days of Pioneers MINISTER’S REVIEW Wellington To Auckland In Three Hours Yet \ review of the progress in travel and transport during the brief span of New Zealand’s history was given by the Minister of Transport, Hon. R. Semple, in opening the second reading debate on the Transport Amendment Bill in the House of Representatives last night. No study' of the transport problem, Mr. Semple said, could be complete without a recognition of the startling developments that had taken place during the last few years. In the days before the railways, the Minister said, transport was carried out on foot or with horses, by canoes on the rivers and by sailing ships round the coast. As roads developed regular coach services came into existence In 1855 it had taken Bishop Selwyn 14 days to travel from Auckland to'New Plymouth. To-day that journey could he made by air in an hour and a quarter. In 1860 Mr. J. H. Baker, one of the pioneer surveyors, travelled from Riverton to Wairaki station in 33 days. That same journey by aeroplane to-day occupied under an hour. Another famous pioneer, Mr. A. D. Dobson, had made the trip from Blenheim to Westport in 1870 in three days. That journey could be made by air to-day in 52 minutes, or by motor-car in a little over seven hours. “Our railways system started to develop in 1880, when we had 1170 miles open for traffic,” Mr. Semple continued. •Tn 1900 there were 2100 miles, in 1920 3000 miles, and last year 3320 miles. Era of Motor Transport. “Then came the era of motor transport. There is some doubt as to when the first motor vehicle appeared on New Zealand roads, but Mr. Cecil IV. Wood, of Timaru, was an early pioneer and in 1897 he constructed his first motor vehicle with a motor-cycle engine. According to import figures, the number of motor vehicles in New Zealand in 1914 was 20,000. To-day the number of licensed motor vehicles has reached 226,000. Petrol imports in 1914 totalled 6,800,000 gallons; for 1935, 68,000,000 gallons of petrol were imported. “Now comes air transport, which lias just passed an important stage in its history. Regular services are operating between Napier and Gisborne, Palmerston North and Dunedin, Wellington and Nelson, and Hokitika and South Westland. Negotiations are proceeding for connecting New Zealand with Great Britain through Australia on the west and with the United States on the east.

“These factors give some idea of the marvellous developments which have taken place in our transport system, and prove that we have to measure up as far as our methods of transport control are concerned. We see some countries which are sticking to old customs and which have failed to keep step with science, invention and discovery. The producer and the consumer are being brought more closely together and new systems of transportation and communication have brought the peoples of the world closer together. As H. G. Wells says, the modern eater in the great modernised communities stretches his hand half-way round the world for every other mouthful.” Progress in the Air. The Minister referred in detail to improvements brought about by air transport. Normally it took 7J hours to travel from Dunedin to Christchurch, but by air the journey took 1} hours. Comparative times were quoted by Mr. Semple for the following journeys;— Dunedin to Blenheim, 28J hours by boat and train, three hours by air; Dunedin to Palmerston North, 244 hours and 4} hours; Wellington to Blenheim, four hours and half an hour ; Wellington to Nelson, 10J hours and three-quarters of an hour; Hokitika to Weheka, 5? hours and 11 hours; Napier to Gisborne, 6 J hours and one hour. By air the aggregate travelling time was reduced to one-seventh of the time formerly taken.

Travelling times between Auckland and Wellington were also quoted by the Minister as evidence of progress in transport. Before the completion of the North Island Main Trunk railway the journey took 33 hours 20 minutes. When the railway was completed travelling time was cut down to 14 hours 10 minutes. The journey had been made by car in 10 hours 49 minutes, and to-day it could be made by air in 2 hours 45 minutes.

“We are carrying on discussions with Union Airways nt present,” Mr. Semple added, "and it is hoped to have a passenger and mail service by air between Wellington and Auckland, covering the distance in three hours with stops at Palmerston North and New Plymouth.”