A RAILWAY DEVIATION

Evening Post, Issue 73, 23 September 1936, Page 10

A RAILWAY DEVIATION

It is rather surprising that in yesterday's debate in the House on the Government's Public Works policy, in which railway construction was vigorously discussed, nothing appears to have been said for or against the important proposal to deviate the Wellington-New Plymouth line south of Wanganui, between Turakina and Okoia. The work is a major one, both as to cost —estimated at £500,000 —and effect on the railway system, as it cuts off a considerable length of railway, shortening the line, it is stated, by about two and a half miles. The plans at present do not appear to bo quite complete, and for a work of this magnitude the | Ministerial description lacks detail. The general purpose, however, is clear. The deviation will eliminate the Fordell incline, after the Rimutaka, one of the worst, with its steep gradients and sharp curves, in the North Island. It will, also, cut out the circuitous route via Ratana between Turakina and Wangaehu. The new Jine will be shorter and easier

both as to grades and curves, and should permit the use of the larger express locomotives to which the Fordell hill has hitherto been an insuperable obstacle. The justification for a work of this nature lies in the saving in the running costs of trains on the new line as compared with the old. In the case of the Tawa Flat deviation—a much more expensive work—the improvement was considered by the railway authorities to be well worth the capital outlay. It is the price that has had to be paid, not only in New Zealand, but in most other new countries where railways pioneered settlement, to bring systems up to modern transport requirements. •