THE NEW TUNNEL SCHEME.

Lyttelton Times, Volume CXV, Issue 16569, 5 June 1914, Page 6

THE NEW TUNNEL SCHEME.

It would be a gomfort to be able to regard tho nes tunnel scheme as seriously as the Lyttelton Harbour Board apparently does. Yesterday the Board endorsed the opinion that the duplication of the line through the tunnel was urgently required, and by way of encouraging the Minister of Public Works it offered to buy all the spoil from the new bore or from the enlargement of the old one at 3s a ton. Wo are not in a position to say whether the offer is or is not unduly liberal, but it looks a safe one either way, because tho Board makes it a condition that the work must be commenced within twelve months. A bookmaker who wanted to earn a reputation for generosity cheaply need havo no hesitation in speculating on this particular issue, because even in a sporting province like Canterbury there would bo no rush to back tho probability of the duplication of the funnel within the next few years. The suggestion that a double line to the Port should be constructed before electrification is undertaken was a palpable attempt to sidetrack the agitation for electrification. We are not anxious to discourage the Harbour Board and the public from keeping the Government to its word, but it seems to us to be folly to postpone the electrification of the existing lino, or to drop the agitation for electrification, simply because a much more expensive work is suggested. That duplication is desirable goes without saying. We arc dependent bn tho tunnel for communication with the sea, and a block on the existing line might easily cut us off from the Port for a week. It is true that no serious stoppage has so far occurred, hut the danger has to bo faced. Tho double line, moreover, would facilitate transport, though for our own part we believe that the difficulties so frequently encountered in this respect are not duo to any deficiency in tho capacity of the connecting line. We doubt, indeed, if the line has ever been worked to its full capacity, except on holiday occasions.