PELICHET BAY RAILWAY ARRANGEMENTS. TO THE EDITOR.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 8210, 15 June 1888, Page 4

PELICHET BAY RAILWAY ARRANGEMENTS. TO THE EDITOR.

Sib,—l have beea daily expecting some protest from the Harbour Board and City Ouncil against the audacious encroachment upon Albany street now being perpetrated by. the Public Works department in the enlargement oJ Pelichet Bay. station. The blocking up of so important a Btreet is a matter of so much direct interest to the former body (who will in the future have large areas for disposal to the eastward of the station) that I feel sure they-will promptly take action now the matter is brought under their notice. As regards our municipal representatives, we trust that th'o motion to be proposed on the subject by Cr Cramond will receive the hearty support of the council as a whole, and that the outcome will be a successfulstand against such an infringement of civic rights, whether the Government under the Publio Works Act have the power to block a street line or no. Whilst writing in reference to railway matters at the north end, may I ask*' Sir, that you will lend your valuable support to the very reasonable petition now before the House asking that all trains may Btop at: Pelichet Bay station. The arguments against this advanced - by the acting general manager of railways to the deputation were as follows:—First, that as're* gards the express, there is a 7 a.m. train' by which, he said, passengers can proceed to Palmerston and there pick up the. express. Now, Sir, this means that wdnld-be travellers must get up an hour and a quarter earlier, than they would need to do if the train stopped at North Dunedin; :■

' I need not point out the great inconvenience which catching the 7 a.m. irain must entail on those travelling with small children,-especially in winter time. Secondly, Mr. Hannay said that if the trains stopped at Pelichet Bay they would have to stop everywhere. This may sound ridiculous, but it's a fact. Now, Sir, as explained to that gentleman, we don't see that North Dunedin can bo put on a, level with the wayside stations in Canterbury where this same express will stop to pick np a sixpenny- passenger or a can of milk. Our arguments are shortly these: North of Frederick street, and including the adjoining boroughs of Maori Hill and North-East Valley, we have a resident population of some 22,000 people. At present to go or come by the northern express we must travel not, less than a mile and a-quarter unnecessarily, being the shortest street distance between Albany street and the northern platform at the head station, via the triangle. The same distance must be tramped by those desiring to go by the 3.30 train to any point south of Palmerston.To stop the trains at Pelichet Bay involves no wear and tear to speak of, the line being a dead level, and the attendance of an extra porter could be easily arranged, as any addition to the staff found necessary there would be counterbalanced by a corresponding diminu-. tion of work at the main station. Finally, as an unanswerable demonstration of the importance of the North Dnnedin Btation, it has been shown that not less than 32,000 persons booked at Peliehet Bay in the past 12 months, although three important trains did not make it a place of regular ball. Trusting that the petition now in the hands of pur member, Mr Allen, wUI receive the support of your powerful pen,—l am. *°j'nnel4. '..:." :,';■• r Thavembh.

—To destroy the institutions arid disperse tho traditions which, though they come from tho past, form the greatest part of the life of the present, is to embark'without rudder or compass on a voyage of adventure and discovery nowhither.—World. ;', ji; - ; : :