THE FLOODS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLIV, Issue 13389, 18 January 1907, Page 6

THE FLOODS.

FURTHER DETAILS OF

DAMAGE.

COMMUNICATION WITH ROTO-

RUA RESUMED.

BY RAIL AND STEAMER

TA U MAR UN LI LINE CLEAR

Thk water on the flooded properties in the Waikato had entirely subsided in the majority of places by yesterday, but the Waikato River is Mill running strongly and is very high. Sailings on the toast were resumed, ami through communication between Auckland and Rotorua will be established from to-day by rail and steamer, the first train leaving Auckland .<{ ten minutes to eight a.m. THE RAILWAY SERVICE. A portion of the Waikato railway is still in a. bad condition, and not. tit- for traffic. The Department, however, are making great efforts to repair the line as fast as possible, and numbers of ballast trains are run to the breaks as soon as they are tilled, while large gangs of men ate on the spot to effect the repairs. The large slip which Declined bet ween Mamaku and Tarukenga. near Rotorua. has now been completely repaired. This will allow of traffic on the Rotorua line between Rotorua and Frank ton being resumed its formerly. On the Auckland side the railway has been repaired as far as I'okeno, 40 miles from Auckland, and trains will run to then- from to-daw

The most welcome news to passengers generally will be that from to-day they may travel between Auckland and Rotorua. or vice vei'oa. the Railway Depart nit ill having arranged a steamer service between the breakdown] points on the line. Passengers for Rotorua or beyond Pokeno. which is three miles on the Auckland side of Mercer, must- leave Auckland by the ten minutes to eight, a.m. train. On the arrival of the train at Pokeno passengers will embark on a steamer provided by the Department, and then bo conveyed up the Waikato [liver to Xgaruawahia. arriving in the evening. Passengers to and from Rotorua. and for the Tatimarunui line, will require to wait a night at Xgaruawahia or Hamilton, whichever is preferred, and then proceed to their destination the following day. The journey, which usually occupies a day. will thus take two days. Trains will be in waiting at Xgaruawahia to convey passengers to Hamilton. Cambridge, and Te Awainutu. There will be no waiting after the arrival of the train at Pokeno, for the steamer will leave immediately for Xgaruawahia in order to be there before dark. Passengers returning to Auckland from the Waikato will catch the boat at Xgaruawahia, and on arrival at Pokeno will find a train in readiness to bring them on to Auckland. The steamer wiil take about eight hours and a-half ow the trip up the river, and about six hours and a-half on the down trip.

The Department has also arranged for a steamer to connect with the trains leaving Cambridge at a-quarter past eight a.m.. Te Awamutu at half-past eight a.m., and Frankton at ten a.m.

On the Taumarunui line the washouts between Otorohanga and Te Kuiti have now been repaired, and the ordinary train service between Taumarunui and Frankton Junction will be resumed from to-day. Those passengers who left Taumarunui last Monday, and who had been blocked at Te Kuiti since then were yesterday conveyed from Te Kuiti to within two miles of Otorohonga by train. A trolley was then utilised for this section. The passengers were brought from Otorohanga to Frankton Junction by special train. The traffic on the Waihi branch, and between Thames and Morrinsville and Pokeno and Ngamawahia is still interrupted, owing to slips and washouts. It is hoped by the Department that traffic will be resumed between Paeroa and Morrinsville on Saturday or Monday, while passengers from the Waihi line can transfer from one train to another, if the trains are unable to get right through. The principal damage to the main line is that between Pokeno and Xgaruawahia, and it is hard to say when this can be repaired. The repairs can. only be effected when the Waikato River, which is still high, subsides a good deal from its present level.