The Gisborne Herald. IN WHICH IS INCORPORATED "THE TIMES." GISBORNE, TUESDAY, DECEMBER 18, 1945. DEVELOPMENT OF N.Z. RAILWAYS

Gisborne Herald, Volume LXXII, Issue 21899, 18 December 1945, Page 2

The Gisborne Herald. IN WHICH IS INCORPORATED "THE TIMES." GISBORNE, TUESDAY, DECEMBER 18, 1945. DEVELOPMENT OF N.Z. RAILWAYS

QP considerable importance in the railway development of New Zealand is the completion of the South Island Main Trunk line. The Press Association’s summary of an opening function which must have constituted a red-letter day in the township of Kaikoura mentioned that the bridging of the gap between Whananui and Parnassus was a project first introduced 70 years ago. It has been left to the present Government to persist, in spite of wartime handicaps, with constructional operations that had been frequently interrupted in years gone by. For this the people of the long stretch of country now linked up have to thank mainly the drive and energy of the Minister of Railways and Works, the Hon. R. Semple, and the keen natural interest taken in the enterprise by the Minister of Supply, the Hon. D. G. Sullivan. The broader significance of the optimism attending the completion of the line is the realisation, even in these days of fastdeveloping civil aviation, that the railways still have a vital part to play in meeting the public’s transportation needs and in opening up the rural areas of a young country. The news from the south will re-awaken thoughts in the Gisborne and Bay of Plenty districts of what can be accomplished in this part of the Dominion when the closing of the Motuhora-Tancatua gap gives the east coast of the. North Island a through connection of the type now possessed by the South Island all the way from Pieton to the Bluff. Railway travel will always be popular among a large section of the public. Apart from that, goods services are usually a fruitful source of revenue to the department and a boon to those who take advantage of them. According to this year’s report by the general manager, Mr. J. Sawers, the express goods services between Auckland and Wellington and between Christchurch and Dunedin, which have been in operation for some time, have proved their worth. On the former run there is, in fact, more traffic offering at the moment than it is possible to take. Of special interest to this district is the announcement that provision is being made in the rolling-stock programme for a greater number of bogie wagons so that the present express goods services can he extended and similar services instituted between other suitable points. The encouraging prospects for the carriage of goods by express service right through the eastern districts of the North Island should be an inducement to the department to commence work at the earliest possible date on the gap which at present exists between Gisborne and the Bay of Plenty.