WELLINGTON RAILWAY YARD

Greymouth Evening Star, 22 June 1937, Page 7

WELLINGTON RAILWAY YARD

FIRST EVENING’S CHAOS

EXTRAORDINARY SITUATION ■A [per press association.] WELLINGTON, June 21. Nearly 70 trains working on timetables between 4 p.m. and midnight were involved in a serious disorganisatiodn of the railway service operating from the new Wellington station today. As this was the first general working day since the official opening on Saturday, the re-arranged yard and platform accommodation was given its initial test.

Apart from minor delays of a few minutes, in which two or three trains were affected, time-tables were satisfactorily maintained throughout the morning and early afternoon. From about 4 o’clock, however, when the evening rush developed on suburban lines, the utmost confusion arose. It went from bad to worse from 5 p.m. until the time for the departure of the Limited at 7.15 p.m., when the disorder reached its climax. :So tangled were the timetables that the departure of the Limited was delayed by 65 minutes. The Wellington-Palmerston North train, which ordinarily leaves at 5.40 p.m., "was also held in the station for more than an hour. All suburban schedules on the Hutt —Manawatu lines were thrown out of normal running. One train on ,the Hutt line was cancelled when the predecessor on the same service overlapped its time of departure. At 9 p.m. five of the nine platforms were congested with standing trains unable to move because, it was stated, of difficulties over shunting arrangements. Half, a mile down in the yards from the station two suburban trains were banked end to end, and at one stage seven locomotives were held in a kind of cul-de-sac, helpless to move the cars until they could be freed by the gradual elimination of the herded trains, as engines became available from the yards. Some of the trains had been there as long as an hour and a half. The delay originated with an engine that should have been out of the shed earlier than it was.

TRAFFIC MANAGER’S’ STATEMENT

■ The district traffic manager, Mr. W. Schierning, said to-night: “As it was the first night, this threw things out of gear. There are one or two details we hope to improve on to-morrow. It has to be remembered that the opening of a new station is a pretty big undertaking. This morning things went remarkably well; but unfortunately to-night this hitch occurred. Such happenings are usually inseparable from the opening of a new station.’’ Asked whether the night’s experience had revealed any defect in the lav-o.ut of the tracks, and whether any change would have to be made, Mr. Schierning said there was no fault in the layout, and no change would be necessary. “It is simply that the men are not yet familiar with the new way of working,” lie-added. “When they get into the work, and become familiar with the various movements that have to be made, all will be well.”

RAIL-CAR CONSTRUCTION.

AUCKLAND. June 21.

Delay in the arrival of materials for construction was cited as the principal reason for the fact that rail-car services have not been extended to the Auckland province by the Minister for Railways (Hon. D. G. Sullivan) today. His statement was prompted by Jhe suggestion that the elimination of mixed trains between Hamilton and Auckland, and their replacement by rail cars, was under consideration of the department. “Unfortunately there is no immediate possibility of such a service between Auckland and Hamilton,” the Minister said. “The extension and development of this branch of the railway passenger service is being proceeded with as rapidly as possible, and new cars are being constructed in the railway workshops. One of the difficulties is that some of the materials necessary for the construction of rail-cars are not coming forward as quickly as we had hoped, but we > appreciate that with the present heavy demand for iron and steel in the United Kingdom the English manufacturer also has problems to contend with.” Mr. Sullivan added however, that additional cars were being made, and would be put into operation in localities where they could give the best service to the community, as quickly as it was possible to do so.