RAILWAY LINK

Gisborne Herald, Volume LXXII, Issue 21604, 5 January 1945, Page 4

RAILWAY LINK

GLENHOPE-INANGAHUA COMPLETION ADVOCATED The case for the completion of the 51-mile gap in the South Island railway system between Glenhope and Imingahua stations is set out in a booklet issued by the Nelson Provincial Progress League. It- is claimed this is the most urgent railway work in New Zealand at the present time .and planning for its completion is advocated on national as distinct from purely parochial grounds. The booklet states _ that the work required to be done is the repair of 19 miles of old formation work and 32 miles of new construction, including about one mile of bridges and four and a-half miles of tunnels and plate-laying and ballasting ever the whole length ol 51 miles. Thousands of pounds could have been saved annually in freights during the war years, claims the booklet, if this rail link had been operating. It points out that of the approximately 1.000,000 cases of pears and

apples from the Nelson district this year. 215,000 were sent by rail to Glenhope station, thence by motor transport and again by rail from Inangahua to the West Coast and other parts of the South Island. A saving of 40 per cent in freights would have been effected, to say nothing of petrol and tyres. In addition to the benefits that would accrue from tiie development of primary industries and afforestation to the Nelson district it is contended that there is much good agricultural land to be developed in the Murchison valleys. Tlie value of the completed railway line in transporting coal from the West Coast is also advanced. Whatever is done in harbour development on the West Coast, the Nelson railway line, it is claimed, would always be 'valuable as an aid to transport of coal, while the railway would open up fresh coal deposits. The booklet also sets out instances of savings which would be effected in passenger fares and freight charges by the completion of the line.