UNCOMPLETED RAILWAYS

Otago Daily Times, Issue 22366, 13 September 1934, Page 8

UNCOMPLETED RAILWAYS

The question -whether the railway lines the construction of which was discontinued on the recommendation of the Railways Board, should still be completed is one that periodically exercises certain sections of the community—almost exclusively, it, is to be noted, those, sections living in the districts that would be served by the lines. The matter was revived yesterday at a conference of local bodies at Christcluuch, when the support of the Canteibuiy Progress League was solicited in urging the Government to complete the South Island Main Trunk system, by “ bridging the gap ” of 76 miles between Wharanui and Parnassus. In the House of Representatives, on Tuesday evening, the member for Gisborne took the Government to task for its actiom in suspending operations on the Napier to Gisborne line, of which one section only is complete. The speakers upon these two unrelated projects appear to have one thing in common, and that is extraordinary optimism and a sublime indifference to the financial aspects of the projects involved. Speakers at the Christchurch conference, it is reported, stated that the South Island Main Trunk line, if completed, “ would certainly pay,” while Mr Coleman declared that the Railways Board had nothing to do with the stoppage of work on the Gisborne line, and accused the Government of adopting a dog-in-the-manger attitude towards those patriotic people in his constituency who have been talking about completing the work themselves. None of these statements is in accord.with the facts. The Railways Board’s report on uncompleted lines, which was prepared in 1931, after members had made a full investigation, was emphatic in its conclusions “ that the completion of the railway line between Wharanui and Parnassus is not justified,” and “that the construction of the Napier-Gisborne line is not justified, and that work where now proceeding should be stopped.” These unequivocal declarations the board supported with figures to which it would be difficult to find an answer. The cost of completing the Wharanui-Parnassus section was estimated at £2,242,261, and that of the Napier-Gisborne sections at £1,526,663. The estimated annual loss on the first-named line was given as £172,931, and on the Napier-Gisborne line as £'195,037. These estimates do not seem to be at all exaggerated. In the case of the Napier-Gisborne line, for instance, the board based its calculation on actual experience with the operation of North Island main lines. The history of these two. railway construction works, and of others examined by the board, is not one on which New Zealand Governments can congratulate themselves. It is move than unfortunate that millions have been spent ou the lines, and that, owing to the discontinuance of the. work of construction, much of this outlay might as well have been literally thrown away. But the real point now is whether any Government could justify itself if it decided to throw good money after bad. To that question there can be but one answer from the majority of harassed taxpayers. Mr Coleman’s complaint, however, that the Government has been unsympathetic towards private enterprise which might be prepared to spend one and a-half millions or so of its

own money in completing the NapibrGisborne line, is one that could surely be remedied. If such philanthropic persons are to be found in the North Island, it would be a considerate act on the part of the Government to . permit them to take over the unfinished line, complete the work, and operate the railway to the best advantage.