SPEEDING UP

Evening Post, Volume CVII, Issue 96, 27 April 1929, Page 10

SPEEDING UP

RAILWAY ROUTES

FUTURE POSSIBILITIES

THE SHORTEST WAY

' , . (Contributed.) I have thought that possibly the , time may como when thoy will bo able to run two expresses one way and two another. Of. course, traffic may not merit,that for twenty years, but should that time arrive and they have to provide for it; it may be that this would be of groat advantage. . These words wero spoken by Sir Bobert Stout in .1916, when chairman of tho Royal Commisison which inquired, inter alia, into the proposal to deviate tho'existing Main Trunk line from Levin to Marton. As was indicated in an earlier articlo on this subject, ,tho Commission expressed tho view that the time was not then opportune to discuss the proposed deviation, but there was a measure of agreement that it might be desirable in the future, when increases in. tho volume of traffic made it'necessary for tho Bail way Department to consider ways- and means of shortening the routo between Wellington ami Auckland. Has that, timeyet arrived?. One thing, at least, has come to pass. .Tho time has . arrived when there are two expresses each day to and from Auckland, and in view of Sir Robert. Stout's statement quoted above, it appears that advocates of the deviation havo> a case. "In fairness to Sir Robert, however, it should be pointed out that two of the four expresses which now run between Wellington and Auckland are limited, and are run, at an accelerated speed, largely for the convenience of business people,, to whom-time is the essence of the ..contract. ; During some months of'the year, too, a daylight "limited" is .run, so that' at times there are six expresses, running between the two main North Island terminals. These facts go to show that-the volume of traffic has increased, but whether, the increase is sufficient to warrant attention being given to the' question of carrying out the'deviation'is a matter for the experts to decide. ' NO MONOPOLY NOW.. ' One point that has to be borne- in mind is the fact-that the railways are now experiencing competition. The days of, monopoly, so far as long-distance transport is concerned are gone, and people who find that travel by train is too slow to meet their needs', may patronise service-cars. It is an established fact that the railways have lost considerable custom, particularly that of first-class passengers, since the advent of sorvice, ears, and there are those who believe, that that custom will continue to be lost'until, tho'Railway- Department.'is in a position to offer a quicker service without running risks' which might . result from acceleration. In. Great Britain, where, keen, competition does exist, not so much from motorservices but from rival railway companies, tho policy of selecting the shortest possible routo between two main terminals has been adopted, and the Tesult is that travel lias been speeded up to such' an extent that London has been brought within easy '.distance of the-,.provinces... . Of course, a private <-.ompany/ruhning,.a railway almost solely, fqr the profits it can make, has not the same difficulties to face as a Government which controls the.railway sys : tcmi 1' A Government has more to consider than the convenience of its patrons and the^profits it can makej although naturally it seeks to secure as much revenue as possible.- In a country like New Zealand, not yet fully developed, consideration must be given ito the opening up of fresh land and to the making of already-occupied land more accessible. Good roads, although important, are not enough; there must be a railway. That being the case, New Zealand's railway policy has been to a largo extent one of meeting the needs of those who produce the country's wealth, and other considerations had at times to go by tho board.. For that .reason,. New Zealand at tho moment is carrying a burden of non-revenue-producing lines, and to some extent owners of motor-car: services are reaping the benefit. ' A SOLUTION, BUT But New. Zealand is rapidly becoming developed, and sooner or 1 later the Government will have to give greaterconsideration to the needs of its travelling public, or at least that por- . lion of it which demands quicker transport. Under existing conditions it is fairly evident that the railways cannot be speeded up to any great extent without attendant risks, and the solution seems to lie in the direction of shorter routes. It must bo freely admitted that the difficulties in the way of such a policy are many. Take, for example, the North Island Main Trunk. Along this line have grown towns of great and ever-increasing importance, and the adoption of any plan which would result in these towns being deprived of their present dignity would inevitably lead to.such a^torm of prqtestthat would cause even the stoutesthearted Government to quail. Evidence that this would be tho case has already ! been provided by the controversy which raged -round the proposal—an almost half-hearted proposal—that the Main Trunk line should bo diverted from Levin to Marton. Testimony given before the Commission which dealt with the matter in 1916 went to show that there was strong opposition to the scheme from Palmcrston North (the main town, affected), and frdm other towns and districts in the vicinity. Palmerston .North is a town which . jealously, guards its interests, and it is certain that any move on tho part of the .Government to adopt the . Levin - Marton scheme would.bo'op\ioscd to the last ditch. . • ,

Opinions 'given before tlio \Comniission. as to the effect which tho deviation was likely to have upon the to\vn of Palmerstou North 'differed very considerably, but .it was generally agreed that, even if the deviation scheme were adopted, Palmerston North would still retain its importance as. a railway centre. It would still, remain, as- a junction for the East Coast line, and'it would also continue to be.a very important centre so far as goods traffle was concerned; It was pointed out that the main 'traffic on tho deviated,, lino would bo the Auckland and possibly tho New v Plymouth expresses,- together with goods trains for Foxton, Himitangi, '-and Sancton..' Of course, there would be inconvenience to Palmerston North people wishing to connect with the Auckland expresses, in that they would have to proceed to lievin or Marton in order to make the connection, but it was pointed out that in this respect they would be in no worse case than tho people of Wanganui.' Evidence- was also given that in England towns which had lost tneir status aa main line towns had lost none of their prosperity.

In the meantime, however, tho'effect which such an undertaking as the Levin to Marton deviation might have upon particular towns does not enter very largely into any discussion as to the ■advisability of shortening routes. .The 'fact remains that the day is fast approaching when the Government will navo to give serious attention to tho whole question, and other schemes, apart from the Levin-Marton project, will have- to bo considered, and considered from a national and not local