NEW BUS DEPOT

Evening Star, Issue 23422, 13 November 1939, Page 8

NEW BUS DEPOT

TERMINAL OFFICIALLY OPENED BY MINISTER FINE PUBLIC UTILITY “It has been my pleasure and privilege, since taking over the portfolio of Railways four years ago, to take part in several functions associated with important improvements introduced on the New Zealand railways,” stated the Minister of Bailways (Hon. D. G. Sullivan) when officially opening the new railway bus terminal fronting the Queen’s Gardens, this afternoon. “ These improvements are all part of the work upon which the Government is engaged in the course of developing Now Zealand to make its resources. Industrial, social and scenic, increasingly available to its people. “ Hence I regard this occasion, the official opening of the Railway Road Services new passenger station in Dunedin, as just one more step in the irresistible march of progress in that branch of Dominion affairs associated with transportation. In this connection we have had, in the past year or two, the opening of Wellington's new station, the electrification of the Johnsonville suburban line and the introduction there of electric multiple unit passenger trains, the completion of the Mohaka Viaduct and the opening of the Napier-Wairoa-Waikokopu section of the Napior-Gisborno railway, the introduction and extension of railcars on various lines, and the commencement of work on a new station and railway yards at Christchurch. “ To-day’s function is one of great national, as well as local, importance, for although the immediate purpose of this new road services passenger stations is to meet the needs of the railway road services now operating to ami from Dunedin, it is designed on a scale sufficiently ample to provide for the many extensions of road services which must follow the completion of certain important works upon which my friend and colleague, the Hon. R. Semple. Minister of Public Works, and his department, have been devoting much thought and energy. I refer to such great arterial highways as that intended to link up Dunedin with Milford M-iind and the many scenic resorts in that vicinity, and' with Westland via the Haast Pass road. ORDERED TRANSPORT. “Anyone who cares to examine this building in all its features —its modern design, its care for the convenience and comfort of passengers, its broad platforms and open floor space, its facilities for the repair and servicing of vehicles, and its accommodation for the recreation as well as the work of the department’s employees will, 1. think, agree with me that even the most hardened advocate of private enterprise in everything would not have expected, in our time, to see a building like this provided here under a free-for-all dispensation of unregulated road competition. On the other hand, all will agree. L believe, that the facilities provided are not in excess of what should he given under any well-ordered transport system for the convenience, safety, red comfort of travellers. “So the present building may be regarded as one more proof of the fact that, at least in the field of transport, private enterprise is not capable of meeting nil public requirements,” the Minister said. “ The corollary of this is, of course, that when the State, on behalf of all the people, provides the adequate facilities, then it is not reasonable that private enterprise should be able to exploit for private profit what it has required so large a measure of public expenditure to provide. This reasoning applies not only to the provision of adequate vehicles and buildings for transport, but also to the construction of new roads through territory, such as that at Milford Sound through the Homer Tunnel, that private enterprise could not possibly have opened up. “I have just come down from the opening of the Centennial Exhibition at Wellington, where the Railways Department’s exhibit has attracted a great deal of favourable comment; yet there is nothing exhibited on the model railway there that is not already incorporated in New Zealand’s' national transportation system. And the fact that the miniature display there provided has proved so appealing to the public is as good an indication as one could wish that the railways, take them all in all, really are up-to-date and fit

to play an increasingly important part in the life of the Douynion.” WORTHY OF DOMINION. “ When the Government decided to extend the co-ordination of railway and road services, it was felt that the job could bo done in a manner worthy of the Dominion. The purpose was to ensure to the public, as far as possible, the benefits of any expenditure undertaken in connection with this work, and also to reduce the cost to the people a» a whole through the avoidance of uneconomic duplication of transport services. “ In other words,” the speaker continued, ‘‘the intention was to provide the best possible transport by rail and road for the general public, having regard to the varying economic factors associated with each of the districts concerned. “ How far we have succeeded in this effort those who have occasion to use the services provided by the Hail ways Department, whether by road or rail, are in the best position to judge,” he added. “ And as Minister I may say that for one complaint that reaches nie there are a hundred communications couched in the most complimentary terms. “ Typical of those is a letter now to hand received by the General Manager, Air Mackley. from an overseas railway engineer, following his recent visit to the Dominion. The writer states;- ‘ The chief mechanical engineering department’s officials here were tremendously interested in the rolling stock, and were amazed at your engines, while, as for the electric trains and Diesel coaches —they couldn’t admire them enough.’ Ho goes on : ‘ This is not flattery,°Alr Mackley, but the honest description of the comments passed; and everyone here who know's anything of rolling stock and coach building is astounded to learn that you made them in your own workshops.’ ”