ROAD AND RAIL TRANSPORT

Manawatu Standard, Volume LXV, Issue 73, 23 February 1945, Page 4

ROAD AND RAIL TRANSPORT

SERIOUS DISLOCATION,

(P.A.) CHR.ISTCHURCH, Feb. 22. Serious dislocation of road and rail transport in Canterbury has been caused by the heavy floods which followed exceptional rain in the country, particularly in the foothills, causing rivers and streams to break their banks. The South Island Main' Trunk railway' will not' be fully open for days. Just liow long cannot be estimated accurately until the floods subside and a proper examination of the .damage can be made. Tiie Railway Department will operate an air service from Christchurch' to Dunedin tomorrow and will start a combined rail and road service as soon as it is possible. The Midland line was also blocked today, but was reopened in the late afternoon. North of Christchurch trains pan go no further than Parnassus and buses are taking passengers from there to Kaikoura. South of Christchurch there is damage of varying extent at intervals all the way from the Selwyn River to Glenavy, 38 miles south of Timaru.

The worst break in Canterbury is at the Temuka bridge, where there is a gap of 140 ft to be bridged. There may be an equally bad gap in the line at Pareora, but the water has beeu too high for a proper assessment to be made. AIR SERVICE.

The department’s air service to Dun edin will be operated by three aircraft lent by the R.N.Z.A.F. ’these will make three round trips a day carrying a total of 90 passengers each way. Passages on these aircraft will be allotted according to a strict system of priorities. An emergency airmail service to carry postal matter for Oamaru and Dunedin will be inaugurated tomorrow. This morning all mails for Dunedin -were sent from Christchurch in two aeroplhnes and the return mails from Dunedin were received in Christchurch this afternoon. From tomorrow arrangements have been made for two aircraft in addition to the ordinary mail and passenger aeroplane to carry mails to and from Oamaru and Dunedin. This service will continue until rail traffic is again possible. Early this morning the Selwyn River burst its banks and vast sheets of water cover the countryside on both sides. Some of the most serious damage occurred near the Selwyn railway crossing where the Main South Road is impassable except for very heavy Army vehicles. The water swept through crops in stook, piling them against fences and also 6wepfc away grain and hay from paddocks. It covered the rpad and railway for a considerable distance. Water entered many homes and in some cases residents had to be rescued by Army personnel with boats. The Main North Road was also blocked today near Waikuku where the Ashley River broke its banks, causing a serious washout. HEAVY WHEAT LOSSES. The Wheat and Flour Controller (Mr R. McPherson) said today that the losses of wheat because of the heavy rain and flooding would be serious. Ho could not say what they would be until a survey had been made by officers of the Department of Agriculture. He said an experiment was to be made with the drying of wheat which had not been done in New Zealand on a large scale before. Mr Me* Pherson sajd that, apart from the crops that were down, much of the wheat in stook and even still standing was sprouting or would sprout if it were not dried. He did not think that there would be a heavy loss in the grain already harvested and bagged on farms if the drying experiment were successful. It would not be possible to handle all the grain which should be treated.