THE HUTT RAILWAY.

Evening Post, Volume LXXII, Issue 67, 17 September 1906, Page 6

THE HUTT RAILWAY.

DEPUTATION TO -THE MINISTER. " A SERIES OF REQUESTS. Several matters in regard to the running of the railway between Upper Hutt and Petone were placed before the Minister for Railways this morning by a deputation representing the l'etone Borough Council and the Hutt Valley Railway League. The requests of tho deputation were voiced in detail by Mr. Wilford, M.H.R. , for that district. Fhst, ho said, the deputation desired to point out that all the dwellers beyond the Silverstreaui bridge were beyond the suburban area, so far as rates and freights were concerned. In the case of the other three centres, the suburban area included a large quantity of land, but in the case of Wellington a large proportion of it was represented by sea frontage, and on that account he urged that the question of readjusting Wellington's suburban area ought to be considered. Secondly, the deputation desired to tee the straightening of the railway line earned out more vigorously. Trucks, not wheelbarrows, was his proposal, but ho believed a great deal of tho delay was due to the fact that the contractor for the supply of stone had not been able to carry out his contract. The next subject was. the season ticket between Lower Hutt or Petone and Wellington. It cost £9 a year to Petone and £10 a year to Lower Hutt, or £1 a month. People who could not afford to plank down £9 were consequently penalised to the extent of about 40 per cent. " A most important requesb they had to make was with regard to the Upper Hutt. The 5.20 p.m. train from Wellington ought to go through to the Upper Hutt. At present no man doing business in Wellington could live at Upper' Hutt. Bents and land were cheaper there, but the resident could not get home at an ordinary time. He had cither to catch the Wairarapa train at 4.7 or the train at 4.45. or wait till the 9.25 train. What the deputation wanted was that the 5.20 p.m. train should go through to Upper Hutt. The deputation also asked for an extension of the Saturday return tickets Wellington (to Upper Hutt from Sunday to Mondafy, for the completion of the milk dock at Upper Hutt, and for the lighting of i>he Silverstream and Wallaceville stations. The Mayor of Petone (Mr. G. London) lirged the advisability of putting on an extra train from Wellington at 5.10 p.m., not stopping except at Eetono and Hutt, so as to relieve the present congestion of traffic. He also asked that the benefits of tho workmen's tickets should be extended to another train leaving Petone at, say, a few ! minutes after 8 a.m. Further, he suggestod an extension of the time -within which the' fifty-trip tickets could be ut,ed. Mr. F. Ross, Chairman of the Hutt Valley Railway League, urged that through trains between Hutt and Petone and Wellington should be run morning and evening, that accommodation should bo provided at those stations for the storage of bicycles, which passengers did not need to take into Wellington, and that the suburban timetable should be printed on the backs of season tickets. The Minister: A penny time-table would get over the difficulty. Mr. Ross : Would it be difficult to goi- it' printed? Mr. Hall-Jones ; Would it be any difficulty to get a penny time-table and put in your pocket the page dealing wjth local' trains? In the course of his reply, which was brief, the Minister intimated that in regard to all the technical points mentioned by the deputation, ho would have careful enquiry made. As to the strrfightening of the Hutt line, that ■was an engineering matter. Ho did not know of anything that went' on where "the amateur camd in inoro than in engineering. He saw that particularly in regard to harbours when he waa Minister of (Marine. It was correct that the department's greatest difficulty' in regard to the straightening of the Hutt line was in regard to the supply of stone. , They had had serious trouble about that matter, and things had now got to such a pass that if within the next few dnys the contractor did nob malco better progress than in the past, they would have to take the work cut of his hr.nds. Ho vras. sorry they would have to do that, because the contractor went to considerable expense in acquiring the necessary plant, but ho had been warned on more than one occasion, nnd so far he was very far behind with his contract. There wns no alternative ; if ho did not carry out the terms of the contract by supplying so many yards of stone within a certain time the department would hnvo to toko the work out of his hands and do the best it could. Until provision was made for carrying out the supply of stone in an expeditious manner it would be unwise to go to any ejcponno for appliances. He would have ft look at the work himself, and see wlwt wns being done.

_ A df nutation of twelvo represontaMvon of ovory brnmh of the Man<ywiitu Railway Company's employees was introduced to tho Minister of Kailwayr> thin afternoon by Mr. W. H. Field, M.IMI. Mossrs. Izard nnd Wilfoid, M.H.R.'s, were also present, and spoke. TliO doputntion urged tho Ministor to uo what ho could to got tho employees of Mio company bioughc undor the opovuUott ot tho Oovommont Railway HiiporiinnnaMon Fund as soon as posBlblo, Tho lato I'romior and tho prosent Proniitii"' hud boon sympathetic towjirdft Ihu rcqwoßt in tho past, but the Hill containing tho principle had been lofit by a caatitut voto in tho Upper JJOMM. Would tho Govornment bring 111 H aniKilill Mill 'o got over tho diflHiUlfcyi Tho youi'a woro passing by, (Hid Uifllr ui't'cnt'd would seriously affect Ul«j I'Oinptiny'H Pinploycos when they (minimally I'umo niuloi- tho oporation of lllfl fmid, 'J'ho Minister snid tho doputawtn wnn pl«clu b liitn in a delicato posiHon, Whon Vlio Hill thoy had mentioned with thrown out last year tho civil W'J'Vftnts Mi woU mi tho Mnnnwatu Rail Wfty (-'ninjlltny'H employees woro disappfllntwl, Thpy could not expect him ¥) lllll'iidiuifl v moniiuro which would SPl've Uip employwH ot a, privato comf'ttfiy ftllil |Wtm over tho civil service If would Kho to noo tho wholo compre. BmiSIVH (n'I«MH«» rltuilt with, but it did !Hli pntMii noflsiblo this session. HowOVMI', ha would pltwo tho matter before lll** (•rtllpt»(|w» in Cabinet, and soo what I'filllfl Im doi\o, It \vt\B inontionud durMill U)t> i'fiur«i> of tho interview that ••IW c Iw ho«lnnluft of thin year tho omPJoyp^a of tno ooni|)»ny had been conHllHitiiUJ In It fliiporunntiaUon fund, and iiifMty wt»vt« pwing 20 per cent, of tho IjIMI'S Mstimulod upon tho contribulOfl^ 101 0 Iho Onvorninent Ruporannuation nittll, Wllinn bogan in January, 1903. I WffS tojiortiMl, also, that tho company With iilppured to contribute a sum o*f fIIOOO It, year for fivo years towards |p)i!lflfif{ up tho arrears of thoir employnoH to tho Government fund. "A cold snap" was v popular allusion l(» Ilio wenthor yesterday and this mornIng. According to Captain Edwin, rain i.i probablo in tho vicinity of Wellington between 1 and 5 o'clock to-morrow uiorning.