RAILWAY CONGESTION.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LX, Issue 18396, 11 May 1923, Page 8

RAILWAY CONGESTION.

PENROSE TO PAPAKURA.

DUPLICATION OF,THE LINE.

AN URGENT NECESSITY.

The congestion of railway traffic in J Auckland has become so acute that the l duplication of the line between Penrose and Papakura is of pressing importance. It is nine years since Mr. E. H. Hiley, ex-General Manager of Railways, in his report to the Government, named the duplication as an urgent work. It was, he said, required both as a relief to the main line and to develop the Auckland suburban business. /- The capacity /of the single line between Penrose and Papakura had. reached its limit, • and there was every prospect of the suburbs spreading rapidly. The department was not in a position to cope with additional traffic, therefore the duplication should be taken in hand without delay. The work, which would cost £80,000, would occupy three years. .•■■■» > The development of Auckland since 1914 has been great, and Mr. \ Hiley'3 prediction regarding the growth of its suburbs has been realised. There can be no doubt that with better train facilities, the expansion would have assumed even greater proportions. Apart from the question of suburban business the matter is one of national importance. The progress of the Dominion, the increase in primary productipn, and the development of trade and commerce cannot bo given full scope if railway transit conditions are inadequate. A critical stage has been reached on the line' between Penrose and Papakura. Every day, between 7 a.m. and 7 p.m., about 50 trains, half the' number travelling one way and half the other, use the line. The manipulation of the traffic presents an intricate problem. The slightest delay to one train entails interruption of the whole service. Loaded already with more traffic than it can reasonably carry, . any addition that in the ordinary course would mean an improvement of service, is quite out of the question. On an average, there is one train paffcitig Cover the section *ver/ quarter of an hour, and when it is considered the distance is fourteen miles, the seriousness of the position is obvious. It is not only the passenger traffic that has increased. The goods traffic, too, has attained such proportions that relief in the shape of the duplication must speedily be afforded.