"CRUEL BLOW" IF RAILWAY ABANDONED

Evening Post, Volume CXX, Issue 8, 9 July 1935, Page 10

"CRUEL BLOW" IF RAILWAY ABANDONED

The abandonment of the service would have very many serious aspects to the residents of the district, said Mr. G. A. Lawrence, chairman of the Johnsonville Town Board, ir an interview. He added that it was practically certain a bus service could not cope with the passenger traffic; even if it were possible, it would be likely at times to cause considerable congestion of traffic on the existing routes to the city. The abolition of the railway would also remove facilities granted to school children attending various schools in Wellington.

"The progress the Ngaio-Johnson-ville area has always been seriously hampered by the conditions of passenger transport, from the necessity of having to traverse dirty tunnels, and the fact that passengers are landed at Thorndon," said Mr. Lawrence. The introduction of tvs services to the various districts affected helped to alleviate the position to a great extent, and these services took away a good deal of passenger traffic from the railways, traffic which might have been retained if the Department had been alive to the situation and extended the service to Lambton.

"Ever since the Government took over the Manawatu railway the residents of the district have continually urged the Department to extend the service to Lambton Station, but the reply has always been that this could not be done under the existing conditions and that it would be necessary to wait until better yard facilities were available and a new station was prected. It would be a cruel blow, therefore, if, after all these years of waiting, the service should be discontinued altogether."

Mr. Lawrence added that the cessation of railway transport in the NgaioJohnsonville area would strike a fatal blow to one of Wellington's most desirable hill residential areas. It was therefore up to the present residents to consider seriously some scheme for the rationalisation of transport to the district. There was little doubt that, viewed from all angles, the railway offers the best solution to the problem, and if the Department could be induced to electrify the present line, run trains on the multiple-unit or some similar system, and land passengers at the new station, the transport problem of the district would be solved.