WELLINGTON'S REQUIREMENTS

Evening Post, Volume LXXXVIII, Issue 57, 4 September 1914, Page 2

WELLINGTON'S REQUIREMENTS

— .». — NEW STATION PROPOSED COSTING £475,000 SUBURBAN TRAFFIC. RIMUTAKA LINE TO BE ABANDONED. Quite & considerable portion of the report of the General Manager of Railways (Mr. E. H. Hiley) presented to Parliament last night, is taken up with reference to the proposed new Wellington station, Te Aro station, Wellington suburban lines, and the Rimutaka incline. His remarks on the various subjects are as follow : WELLINGTON CENTRAL PASSENGER AND GOODS STATION. "The Wellington business is at present carried on at two separate stations (not counting Te Aro), neither of which is laid out in a. manner conducive to economical or expeditious handling, having been added to and patched as increasing traffic has necessitated. The. present method of working is inconvenient to the public, whilst it is impossible for the Department to deal with the traffic satisfactorily. It is estimated that' the trafiic to be handled in Wellington will, at the present rate of progress, double itself in less than ton years, and as the stations are now taxed to the utmost at busy periods, it is clear that no time should be lost in providing the increased accommodation in a central position. Plans have bean prepared showing a passenger-station fronting Bunny-street, and a goods-station slightly further to the north, with enhance off Waterlooquay. The station is in An admirable position, considering the area bf ground required. It is necessary that the station should be adjacent to the wharves, especially the Ferry Wharf, to facilitate tho exchange of both passenger and goods traffic. The plan attached to this report sets forth in detail the lay-out of tho station, the inset on the plan showing how the passenger accommodation can be increased when the necessity aiises. The lay-out of the goods-yard can be straightened and improved when the reclamation is pushed out to the line of the future seawall, and when this occurs the Department will be able to dispose of the valuable land east of Thorndon - quay shown on the plan as occupied by goods sidings. The engine-depot will be placed on land to be reclaimed between Thorndon and Kaiwarra. It is proposed that colliers with locomotive coal shall berth alongside the breastwork and discharge their coal directly on to , the coal-stacking ground or into trucks' for country stations. The cost of the Wellington Central Station is £475,000, and the work will take five years to complete from date of commencement. TE ARO STATION. "Tho plan for the Central Station does not contemplate the continuance of the Te Aro Station, and I propose that this branch line be closed, the rails being taken up from Waterloo-quay, and the property occupied by Te Aro Station sold as a credit towards the expense of building the new Central Station. lam aware that there is a section in Wellington living in the neighbourhood of To Aro who not only wish the station to be retained, but desire it enlarged to deal with goods business. L have received a deputation from that section, and their wishes should be treated with every 'respect, but I do not consider any case has been made out to justify the continuance of a branch line through the main street of the town to serve a terminus less than a mile from the Central Station. The sorting in Wellington of traffic for Te Aro would involve two additional handlings in the central warehouse, and finally a special train service to Te Aro, which would make the expense to the merchant prohibitive, having regard to the short distance intervening between the two stations. The expense and the time lost in performing the additional terminal services woula entirely preclude Te Aro Station being of any real value as a goods depot. The plea advanced by the advocates of Te Aro is that cartage-costs would be saved ; the additional railway charges would be considerably more than the 3d, or at most 6d, per ton for cartage. If Te Aro is to bo used for goods traffic, two lines of rails will have to be laid doAvn Water-loo-quay across Ihe entrance to the Harbour Board's property; additional land mil have to be bought for a goods-sta-tion at Te Aro, and a portion of Tara-naki-street practically closed to vehicular traffic. It is not usual to have two stations within three-quarters of a mile of each other in towns such as Wellington. The traffic at present being dealt with at Te Aro is legitimate tram traffic, and can be better handled by the trams. In my opinion, the greatest good to the greatest number will be promoted by closing Te Aro Station altogether. WELLINGTON SUBURBAN LINES. " The necessity in the near future of relieving the Manawatu line out of Wellington by the construction of a new railway from Wellington, junctioning with the Manawatu line about Tawa. Flat, has bpen referred to in dealing with the improvements of the Main Trunk. Consideration of a deviation line to avoid the R-imutaka incline is also referred to in this report. When the latter deviation is decided upon the Unit Valley lino should be duplicated between Lower and Upper Tlutt. Botli the north line and the Ilutt Valley schemes affect the future of Wellington vitaJly, because it will not be possible to cater satisfactorily for a muchincreased suburban business without additional facilities for working the traffic. The north line is the more urgent, because of the heavy through traffic and tho limitation caused by the severe grades. WAIRARAPA LINE. " Train- working on the Wairarapa line is greatly interfered with by the heavy gradients existing between -Uppen. Hutt and Summit, and the Rimutaka. incline between Cross Creek and Summit. The grade of the latter is 1 in, 15, and the length 2 miles 79 chains. Special engines have to be employed exclusively for this portion of the line. The maximum load per engine is 60 tons dead weight (say, about 20 tons actual traffic) : frequently four engines ■ are employed to liaul a train of 240 tons, dead weight, from Cross Creek to Summit. The minimum time for the journey is forty minutes. Every train has 'to be remarshalled at the Summit and similarly at Cross Creek. This involves a loss of at least fifteen m,\utes to a train at each station. On an average one hour twenty minutes is required to negotiate the three-mile journey up the inclin. . lhis puts a. definite limit upon the amount of business fiom the Wairarapa winch can be dealt with. The cost per engine-mile is 3s Id. A special track with a third rail for gripping and braking purposes has to be maintained at considerable additional expense compared with the ordinal y track. The importance of this ro U t e and the productivity of the country which tlto existing and projected railways will serve justify consideration of the abandonment of the incline and, the construction of a deviation with gradients! that u-ill enable all trains to be worked with the standard types of engines. A leally satisfactory 'service via, the Wairarapa loute is impracticable while truing have to be worked over

the Rimutaka incline. A considerable expenditure will be involved in carrying out the deviation, but the work, nevertheless, will have to be considered in the near future."

Sir Charles Bowen, Speaker of the Legislative Council, met with an unpleasant accident this morning. While waiting to alight from a tramcar the somewhat sudden application of the break caused him to fall, with the result that he was considerably bruieed on the left arm and leg. lie was conveyed to Parliament Buildings in a motcy-car, and it is not consideied that his injuries extend beyond a considerable shaking. For Children's Hacking Cough at Night, WoodY Gicftt Peppermint Cure, Is &3.-~ Advt.