SPEEDY TRANSIT

New Zealand Times, Volume XXXVI, Issue 8222, 10 September 1912, Page 1

SPEEDY TRANSIT

ELECTRIC TRACTION PASSENGERS AND (TRAFFIC. In Dio discussion, which has centred around the tiny To Aro railway service, with its attendant loss of -LCUuO a year, no attention, whatever seems to have been paid so tar to the utilisation of tho city tramwavs in tho displacement of Die railwav" servica. The chairman of the Harbor Board, Mr Robert Fletcher, conies forward with suggestions having an important bearing on the whole question. IDs idr-a is that, with the cessation of tho railway .sei-vico to 'To Aro, a scheme could be devised by which the whole of tho liar bar Board’s wharves could be (•■ounceted by direct train communication, passenger and freight, with the central railway station at Thorndon, thus ensuring a more modern, speedier, and economical service than is at present afforded to Te Aro people. OVERSEAS VESSELS.

"Tato tho wharves at present utilised I I by overseas vessels—Englitjh and foreign II —the policy of the Harbor Board is tending towards accommodating them in the ‘ | north of the harbor, that is, towards ’ I Thorndon,” said Mr Fletcher. “Tho bulk of the cargo from these vessels goes by rail, unless transhipped sea-borne again. ’ fln.rdly any cargo comes in these ships that [ goes beyond a radius, say, of Cuba street, ’ because ail of tho merchants' warehouses j are situated witMn a limited area of the city. It is absolutely essential that this ’ big volume of ©tuff that is being handled ! must bo in proximity to the goods etn- ’ tion, and the same re-mark applies to the ; cargo inwards for export—the bulk of it, ' choose, butter, frozen meat, ©to., goes to ’ Thorndon for subsequent transhipment at ; the wharves. Consider for a moment the advantage of a direct tramway ’ freight service right to' all the wharves. THE FURRY SERVICE. "Then there are the ferry services—- ’ Wellington to Lyttelton and Wellington to Sydney. Under my proposal, with the tramway- running right along the > wharves, passengers could step into the ■ cars direct for their destination, with a i freight car attached fpr their luggage, whilst goods could be sent with dispatch . straight to the central railway station. [ FOODSTUFFS. ’ “There is also tho question of food I products, ,1 recognise that the foodstuff l which comes-to Wellington, for local consumption, by rail, is infinitesimal. The | most, of this comes from the southern ports, grain and such like, and is landed ' at Queen’s wharf and To Are. If the . tram lin«i were laid to these wharves tho goods could be put into freight cars and handled with dispatch—to Miramar, Island Bay, Karon, Wadestown, and all of tho suburban districts, there to be discharged at depots. Thee© depots need not, of course, be very extensive undertakings at first, and could bo improved with tho growth of tho system. AN OBSOLETE RAILWAY. "It is quite clean to my mind that tho day is coming, and that very soon, when tno inhabitants of a modem city will vigorously resist the running of a railway train through crowded business thoroughfares, when they can utilise all the advantages of a municipal tramway service to the same end. The markets will probably continue to remain at Te Aro, only on a more extended scale than at present, but the produce coming from tho country can bo handled very much more expeditiously if shipped direct on' to freight t ramcars. If the service warranted, there is no reason why a double lino for freight cars could .not he laid down in the same way as is done in most modem cities of ■ the world at tho present time. THE COST. “The cost 111 Wellington of such a proposal as I have hero briefly indicated would hot be very great, because there are so few of the tram lines that would have to be extended. As trade increased, of course, development in line extension would follow —that is only a business matter’. The first charge would be the building of the freight cars and laying down the tram lines to the wharvee and eventually to the markets. As Wellington grows, this will have to be done. You can’t perpetuate the present obsolete system of running the railway through the city to Te Aro at a dead loss - when 1 the tramcara can servo you very much better. Surely no sensible man would suggest the extension of the railway service to Miramar when the tramenrs are running there now? lam quite satisfied that if this matter were gone into thoroughly by the business people—-the city . council. Harbor Board, and Chamber of Commerce, with representatives cf the Government —they would arrive at the conclusion that such a scheme as is here indicated would be satisfactory to the 1 city from every point of view.’’ 1