RAILWAY SERVICE.

Hawera Star, Volume XLVII, 27 September 1928, Page 7

RAILWAY SERVICE.

OPENING- NEW LINES. iMvOVUMNC. CHEAP TRANSPORTATION. W ELLINGTON, Sept. 25. The most noteworthy progress has been e.idenced by the completion and hand in o,l over to the ihiibviiv Depaitment of 118 miles 2D chains of raiiwavs, states the Minister in his I üb■lie* Works Statement, it i.s true that lor some years a considerable portion ot this mileage has been almost completed, and the public have had a modihed use oi' it. ‘ Progress ol works lurtlier on has been so interlocked with the completed ?x>rtion, that it was not- deemed <ydvisable to hand over some, which might have- been handed over, until the department was in a position to transfer to the eontrol ot the Railway Department a considerable length, and could do so without prejudicing the progress of other works. This more particularly refers to the East Loast Main Trunk Railway in the liav of Plenty district, where until a through connection was made to Auckland it would not have been possible lor the full value of the work to he obtained. Now that the connection between Tauranga 'and Waihi lias been completed and that a halt hats been called in extension eastward, it lias been possible to open the railway from Taneatua on the eastward, right through to Auckland. The extension of the rail-head to the northern side ol the Northern Waii-on Paver at Kirikopuni marks another step forward in the removal of the isolation of the far north, and has been instrumental in developing and bringing a large fertile part of the Dominion into close touch with its principal centres. 1 do not know’ whether members have ever looked into the question ol the capital charges in connection with motor transport; but, if so, they will have found that the capital invested in motor transport, including the track on which it is operated, in New Zealand is greater than that invented in the railways, the roads being, of course, an essential part of motor transport. If rolling-stock and running expenses- alone are taken, the cost of motor transport, is several times that of railways, while 1 do not think anyone would bo found who would argue that even double the motor transport which we have in the country could do anything like the work which is being done by the railways at present. There are localities which, in order that they may be developed to their fullest aim. imist be provided with cheap transport, particularly in the ease of manures, and if a method of cheaply transporting fertilisers is not provided, then without doubt the distri-. L requiring such facilities will never be developed. It is, of course, necessary to be reasonably assured that when the development has been brought about there will then be suffiy cient business to justify the losses in the early stages. The exotic forests which have been established bv the operations of the Government’s forestry policy in and around Waiotapu have grown to such a stage that within a very few years it will he necessary to have rail transport in order that the produce therefrom may be economically brought to market. When the Royal Commission** previously referred to went into this aspect of the problem they had in mind an expansion of 8,000 or even perhaps 10,000 acres per year on to an already existing area, of 27,568 acres, while actually there is yt the present time 84,000 acres, 27.000 acres ol which were planted last year, while the forestry programme of the next few years contemplates the planting of 30,000 acres per year. If railway connection was considered at all in 4022. how much more has its necessity been emphasised by this tremendous expansion I Apart from the necessity for a cheap method of transporting the timber, referred to above, from the area, to he served by the Rotorua-Taupe railway, there i.s also the question of providing the most ‘economical method of developing the immense area, estimated at well over a million acres of land, which lies in the valley of the Waikato River. A total vote of £984,001) is proposed for railway construction, as against £1.007,000 last year. .The three important railway deviation. namely (1) at Westfield, near Auckland which is being constructed to avoid the heavy grades immediately after leaving Auckland, and also to provide the increased station facilities which the growth of business absolutely demands ; (2\ the Palmerston North deviation, which will take the business of the Main Trunk line outside the JVi st-growing town of Palmerston North. and provide the extra' station facilities which could not he provided at the present station yard location within the city limits for this, one ol the most important junctions in New Zealand ; and (3) the Tawa Flat deviation. immediately outside Wellington, which is being- constructed for much the same reason as the Westfield deviation at Auckland, which forms a substantial part of the works included in the scheme of the .Railways 'improvement Act. will all be vigorously pushed to completion.