RAILWAY SERVICES COMPARED

Otago Daily Times, Issue 25660, 7 October 1944, Page 9

RAILWAY SERVICES COMPARED

Sir,—When the present Government recommended the construction of the Napier-Gisborne and Blenheim-Chnst-church railways in 1936, I believe you very trenchantly criticised its action in resuming these works in a leading article on the ground that the lines were unwarranted and unjustified, and would not give an adequate return on the expenditure necessary. The south Island line is still to be completed, and no comparison or analysis can be made but the pros and cons of the first-named line can be reviewed, and a most healthy picture is presented. When resumed, 73 miles between Napier and Wairoa had been almost completed, apart from earthquake damage; the iron work for completion of the two major viaducts was on hand and mainly fabricated; a further. section of 23 or 24 miles to Waikokopu from Wairoa was and had been in operation for some years, and the remaining 35 miles to Gisborne had been covered by partial construction, including work on many of the 11 tunnels on it. And while I am no partisan of this Government, knowing the district as I did, I could but commend it for its foresight and intuition as the results which are set out here below (as taken from the current year’s Railway Statement) show its vision to have been correct. Comparisons have been made with lines and towns in Otago and elsewhere and will enable your readers to grasp some of the potentialities of a district which to them is largely terra incognita. Napier-Gisborne.—l32 miles; total revenue, £161,700; passengers outward, 108,400; cattle, out 32,400, in 11,500; sheep, out 263,400, in 230,400; goods, out 39,000, in 41,500. Central i Otago.—l46 miles; total revenue, £74,900; passengers, outward 31,800; cattle, out 3926, in 1439; sheep, out 31,480, in 45,423; goods, out 22,000, in 35,800.

The foregoing are the most comparable cases except that one is old established and the other not yet down — or, rather, up—to a solid basis; yet, with a shorter line, Gisborne shows a revenue of over double, three and a-half times the number of passengers, 38,600 more cattle, 73,600 more sheep, and 22,700 more tons of merchandise, and all this despite a large seaborne trade to compete with. Two othe- comparisons which show up poorly when compared on a percentage basis are: Catlins line, 43 miles with a revenue of £21,000, the Seaward Bush line, 34 miles and £15,800; and, coming further north, the Nelson line, 59 miles, £15,000. Individual revenue comparisons are as follows: —Oamaru £48,200, Ashburton £50,700, Greymouth £68,100, Wairoa £65,200 and Gisborne £75,800. It will therefore be seen that from whatever angle the figures and results are viewed, the construction of at least the Gisborne line has been fully justified. During a recent 48 hours at the end of August seven capacity goods

trains left Gisborne, the cattle wagons attached to these seven trains totalling 240. In addition all in and out goods trains there are loaded to capacity. During the year inward freight increased by over 5000 tons. With the lifting of travel restrictions the passenger traffic will increase by some thousands.

In addition to the regular trains a railcar runs from Gisborne to Wellington at week-ends' and returns on Sundays, and at both ends its 58 seats are booked out seven days prior to departure, and passengers strive to get on it at all stopping points en route. Between Wellington and Palmerston North, and vice versa, it makes no stop, and covers the whole 321 miles in a little over nine hours, making over long stretches nearly a mile a minute. The regular trains are all loaded to capacity, and, in addition, up to two railcars run daily between Napier and Wairoa.—l am, etc., W- J. Whinray.