TE ARO STATION.

Evening Post, Volume LXXXIII, Issue 106, 4 May 1912, Page 3

TE ARO STATION.

RAILWAY LEAGUE FORMED. EXTENSION OF LINE TO MIRAMAR. Tho agitation to do away with the railway station at To Aro and the counter fiugg<j«tion that the station should bo open for goods traffic hr.s been responsible for the formation of a ,Wellington Railway Extension and Improvement League. This step was taken at a meeting held yesterday afternoon. Mr. Leigh Hunt occupied the chair. The Chairman said there was a widespread feeling' that tho To Aro line was not being made (sufficiently useful to the largo bulk of tho people of the city. Now that the dock contract had been abandoned, there was ample room for an extension of the shunting yards, and an auxiliary goods depot should bo established there without delay for the accommodation of inward goods, such as timber, road metal, chaff, etc. A tremendous wuste , was occasioned by the loug-dietanco carriage on the city roads between Thorndon and To Aro. If tho passenger service was improved tho Te Aro station would bo used by a .very large number of people. It was gratifying to know that tho plans for the new railway station provided for thai continuation' of the Te Aro line. Iv moving that the league bo formed Mr.* Luke said that the suggestion to do away \vith tho The Aro line was simply lolly. The present terminus was nearest to the busiest centre of tho city, within a stone's throw of the wharf and the principal food markets. The To Aro railway station had not been a success because the Department had never given it a chance. What was wanted were 'ample goods-shed and luggage accommodation, and an extension of the express trains from Auckland to Te Aro. •Now people wero brought all tho way from one end of the kland lo bo dumped at the extreme end of tho city, instead of being brought right into it, as would be tho case did the Te Aro station serve as tho terminufl of the Main Trunk line. These views wero endorsed by other speakers and a sub-committoe, consisting of Messrs. Leigh Hunt (chairman), W. J. Thompson, ¥. O. Uolton, J. P. Luke, 11. M'Leod, and the 1 Hon. J. E. Jenkinson, was appointed to issue a petition for the signatures of the public against tho abolition of the Te Aro railway' station, and praying that it be developed by the establishment of a goods depot and an improved passengjr service.