TRAMWAY TRACTION.

New Zealand Mail, Issue 1508, 24 January 1901, Page 66

TRAMWAY TRACTION.

; WANTED IN WELbJXGjION. A CHAT WITH MR W. FERGUSON. HE ADVOCATES THE OVERHEAD - “ / v trolly system. .' IT WOULD PAY TO EXTEND IT TO THE SUBURBS.” There has been an impression abroad that Mr W. Ferguson, the Secretary o ihe Wellington Harbour in st returned from a visit to Gical, Britain, the Continent, and Amelia, he-had refused to make a report, nx Citv Council on the question or tiamway traction. The idea is a .mistaken one. Mr Ferguson was questioned m regard to the matter by a Times, re porter yesterday afternoon. He said he had had a consultation m committee with Councillors about the matter efore he left, in consequence of a ieouest which had been made to him, but he had refused to make a report—not being an expert in matters of traction, 5U being likely to tee sary time at his disposal, to make a 'tailed investigation into■ the He had, however, promised that any in formation which he obtained, °r V nervations which he made m legalti to ?be T matter -hen travelling from. R tace to place, would be at the disposal1 of Mr Rounthwaite, the Council s En 0 n eer who could make whatever use of the information -he pleased. As a--mat-. -or of fact, Mr Ferguson has alica •? spent one evening with Mr waite discussing the question, " probably have further conferences with him later on. ... .-i, a . Having learned the position, the '‘Times” representative asked Mi E ei if he would have any objection to'informing; the public* through these columns what opinion he had foinied as to the most suitable tramway ti action which x could be provided for the city of Wellington? .. v i£ Not the slightest, said Mr Teiguson “The best, system which could be established here would be th e overhead trolly system. It mignt not oe, he added, “the most inexpensive, but it would certainly be the most- effective that could be adopted, all things considered, in a city like Wellington. ‘'And would you advocate its extension to the suburbs r” asked the mtGrvicwsir. . Mr Ferguson replied that in face of his American experiences he thought it would undoubtedly pay to extend the tramways to the suburbs. He instanced localities in which the trams had oeen led out from the cities to places where there was scarcely any population, and yet they paid, because the residents m the cities liked to journey out. into the country in the trams, which are delightfully comfortable to ride in, and inexpensive into the bargain. Therefore, it is not essential to have thickly populated suburbs before tramways v-nl pay. In the same way that “trade follows the flag,” apparently population follows the up-to-date tramway, and then the up-to-date tramway stretches farther and farther out into space- • , There is no reason, Mr Ferguson polui s cut, why the overhead system should not stretch out to Kilbimie, Miramar, Island Bay, and even “round the rocks,” but in order to grasp the great profits which would undoubtedly accrue to such enterprise the people of this city have got to reconcile themselves to a very large expenditure—a very much larger expenditure probably than has previously been dreamed of. It is necessary to a modern system of tramway traction, he points out, that the streets should be amply wide to carry a double iine of rails, an expensive item in itself. This would be more necessary in main central streets like Adelaide road and Riddiford street than in thoroughfares like those in the centre of the-eity, for reasons which will appear hereafter. In this connection Mr Ferguson thinks it is a very great pity that the arrangement was not carried through for -securing an alternative route for the Newtown traffic, in the manner proposed by the City Council some time back. If negotiations are not prosecuted with a view to reviving the scheme, it will be necessary, in order to ensure the success of the tramway system, either to considerably extend the width of Adelaide road or find some other outlet for vehicular traffic. After giving some thought to the ■subject, Mr Ferguson is of opinion that Bkensure the success of a new tramway it would be necessary to have |§j|!j!^^.through service, say, from KaiIsland Bay, to be fed by loop mining through the central terminal stations to act as special through service ° O P services could incations such popuEtTwEv Ajas Tinakori road, Upper Wilks nn|HH& others which trarmvay serBasin Wax 'h^rAk'o', ; -'Xwi / WNI f s O

that Mr. Ferguson sees no reason why the proposed overhead trolly system should trench in the slightest on the playing portion of the reserve. It might be necessary to cut the corners off a little to get. round, or to establish a special siding in Sussex square to enable the slow trams to get out'of the road of the fast, but it ivould not. Mr Ferguson thinks, retard the efficiency of the service to follow the course now daily pursued by tbe horse trams. As for a sendee t<o Miramar, the alternative would present itself of either tunnelling through the hill at Ellice street, or going round the rocks. Either would be an expensive undertaking, but Mr Ferguson does not anticipate that that difficulty ivould prove insuperable to a, syndicate if the option were available. Our representative left Mr Ferguson with the folloAving impressions:—(l) That if up-to-date trolly traction is to be established in Wellington, now is the time to tackle the problem in earnest before brick buildings take the place of the Avooclen edifices which crowd the margins of our narroAV streets; (2) that if the people of Greater Wellington ivant to provide themselves ivith an adequate and comprehensive service, they must be prepared to put their hands iijL their pockets to some purpose; (3) that it is essential the City Council should at once grasp the situation, and refuse to let the matter drop before some definite Avorking plan of operations has been evolved and entered upon; (4) that the leading men of the city must throiv off their lethargy, and come forward ivith the fixed determination of assisting their Corporation representatives to carry out any acceptable scheme which, may be decided upon; (5) that the City Engineer’s report on the question ivhich is coming fonvard in a feiv days shall be given sound and sympathetic consideration ; (6) that all sectional agitations and counter-schemes should be dropped in the meantime, and that all those Aidio have the progress and prosperity of Greater Wellington at heart shotild combine ivith the object of bringing into operation one eomprehensi\ r e cen-trally-controlled system which ivill servo the city and suburbs alike, and make prolusion for the needs of the populacein the immediate future.