THE EAST COAST RAILWAY.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LVIII, Issue 17881, 8 September 1921, Page 4

THE EAST COAST RAILWAY.

An impressive case for the concentration of effort upon tbe construction of the East Coast Main Trunk Railway was presented to Sir William Herries by the Bay of Plenty deputation. The district claims consideration on account of its isolation j its remarkable progress under the great disability of inadequate communications, as revealed by the census; its capacity for close settlement and great production with reasonable facilities; and the assured prospect that the completed railway will be highly profitable. ho other railway project so fully satisfies the test upon which Mr. Coates based his policy a year ago. " My duty is to spend the money in the district from which I am going to get the best return for my expenditure," he said, " which is going to open up country, and which is going to increase production." The deputation particularly emphasised the view that construction between Tauranga and Waihi should be hastened, so that the completed section beyond Tauranga may be linked with the main system of railways. Their representations on this point are eminently reasonable. Already the department has spent £620,000 on this isolated section, and, though some revenue is being earned by the temporary service, the line is not being used to its full capacity, and cannot earn even the low interest return adopted by the Minister for Railways. The work of closing the gap between Waihi and Tauranga has not yet been seriously undertaken. Originally started over nine years ago, the construction of this section was resumed at both ends in March, 1919, but little progress has been made. By last February, the number of men employed had been increased to 108, but it has now been reduced to 65, while the much larger staff on the eastern sections has been expanded. It is difficult to understand this concentration of labour and money on an isolated section, to the neglect of the essential link with the main railways system. The Minister's policy clearly demands that construction shall proceed from existing railways, so that as every section is finished it can be brought into full use. Alreadv over £4,000.000 have been sunk in unopened lines, the total having been increased in the last year by £577,000, while of the total'expenditure of over £5.000.000 in the last five years, £'2.200.000 have been added to the idle capital. While these works remain in the hands of the Public Works Department their earnings are insignificant; they therefore involve a dead loss of from £•150.000 to £200.000 annually. Considerations of economy as well as of common sense demand the closing of the gaps, and among the most important of them is the WaihiTauxanga section.