CLOSING RAILWAY GAP.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXI, Issue 18884, 5 December 1924, Page 10

CLOSING RAILWAY GAP.

CLAIMS OF MARLBOROUGH. I ';v < -V-' 1 ' W'Vv".'.-J t i : -. ?• h 'J /'••• . -V '* , ■ .. J.,- ( '- .■■ • ••/.; •• '• " COMMERCIAL PROPOSITION." | " OPENING UP THE : LAND. - [BY TBLBQEAI'H.—OWN COIIRESPOKDENT.] BLENHEIM, Thuisday. 1 After long months of patient irquiry,, > the Marlborough Progress League has « drafted its final report in, connection with 1 the proposed immediate completion of i the 80-mile gap in the Picton-Bluff rail- 1 way. The report, which was approved ; at yesterday's meeting of the league, has i already been sent forward to the Railway i Commissioners, Sir - Sam Fay and Sir Vincent Haven, who are now reporting ] on the Dominion's railway system, and ! to the Canterbury Progress League, i which is investigating ; Marlborough's claims to the immediate completion of the line. The report is in some respects an amplification of the original report submitted some months ago to the Canterbury League, but the figures have been brought up to date. The scope of the report has been generally extended," and the estimates arid figures used have been revised in the light of the inquiries ma.de since the original report-was issued. The league advances the argument that - the gap in the railway should be completed for the following reasons:— (1) The gap is part of a Main Trunk line; (2) the completion of the gap will open up land for settlement and assist the development of the Marlborough provincial district; (3) a through railway from Picton. to Bluff will be a good commercial proposition. The report elaborates arguments, and quotes figures under each of these headings, and concludes with a summary of the anticipated revenue and expenditure. The total revenue returns are estimated at £289,590 per annum, and the expenditure, including the cost of running two trains a day each way, , and finding interest on the estimated cost of construction at 3$ per cent., is £223,016. Acting on expert advice, the league has estimated the cost of the proposed work at £1,500,000, but it adds that even if the rough estimate of £2,000,000 were reached, this would represent only another £18,750 a year in interest, so that the line on the estimates arrived _ at would still be a good paying proposition.