EAST COAST LINE

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume LX, Issue 18263, 5 December 1933, Page 4

EAST COAST LINE

NAPIER-WAIROA COSTS £93,000 FOR CONSTRUCTION ROLLING STOCK £80,510 OPERATING PROFIT LIKELY Basing his report upon the furnishing of a service entirely devoid of "frills but meeting the convenience of the district served in regard to both passenger and freight transportati n. -Mr. R. Trevor Smith. Public Works Department engineer who lias been investigating the economic possibilities of completing mid operating the Napier-Wairoa section of the East Coast railway by private enterprise. estimates that an operating profit can be obtained if the settlers and townspeople of the district will give their support to the project. In a comprehensive report which he submitted this week to tlie NapierWairoa committee, to which body bis services were loaned by tlie Minister of Public Works. Mr. Smith allows for an outlav of £97.892 on construction, with a possibility of further constructional costs which will briim the total under tins heading to £ICO.OCO. COMPARES FAVORABLY WITH DEPARTMENT’S ESTIMATE

This figure compares favorably with the estimate on which the Public Works Department had been working at the time of suspension of building operations between Napier and Gisborne, the department having faced an outlay of £340.430 between Napier and Wairoa, in addition to the £2.892.400 previously expended The department’s estimate provided, of course, for completion of the section right up to the standard of the New Zealand Railways Department, whereas Mr. Smith’s estimate is for just as much work as will render it possible to conduct reguiar and safe services for passengers and freight, with a minimum of outlay on such details as station equipment. Allowing also for (he investment of £80,510 for rolling stock, the main items of which would he two Diesel-engined passenger rail-cars, the investigating engineer assesses the total annual cost for maintenance, operation and interest at £31.072. The revenue estimated on a conservative basis is set down at £38.640. with a good prospect of a steady increase as the developmental value of the line makes itself felt. PROPOSED SERVICES

The details of Mr. Smith’s economic survey of the section would he of interest Only tel corporations which might undertake the completion and operation of the line pnder license from the Government. There are, however, many points of general public interest, particularly in regard to the proposed services for passengers and freight. Mr. Smith envisages passenger railcar services running twice daily from each terminus, and steam trains run at night for the haulage of freight. The staffing of the line would, be cut- to a minimum, and in order to economise as far as possible the crossing of trains in the early stages of operation is not taken into account. The necessity for connecting with the regular train service operating between Napier and Palmerston North has a guiding factor in drawing up a timetable of passenger cars, which is suggested as under: —Leave Wairoa 5.45 a.m. : arrive Napier 8.10 to connect with j Wellington express; leave Napier 8.50 a.in.: arrive Wairoa 11 a.m.. service cars to Gisborne; lease Wairoa 130 p.m.; I arrive Napier, 4 p.m.. connect with afternoon train; leave Napier 5.30 p.m.; arrive Wairoa 8 p.m., service car to ' Gisborne. Goods service would leave Wairoa at 8.30 p.m., arriving in Napier at 1 a.m., returning to Wairoa at 5,30 a. m. j OPERATION OF GOODS TRAINS ' The' operation of goods trains at f night is considered to be most suit'ahle for the purposes of handling stock, on the potentialities of which item of traffic the prosperity of the j lino seems to depend in a large measure. j The report indicates that stock would he assembled at Wairoa in the cool of the evening, and would travel under the most suitable conditions, arriving at Napier in time to connect with goods trains travelling south from Napier each morning, i Railcars engined with Diesel units, ! and making non-stop trips arc expected to make the journey live tween Wairoa and Napier in two hours, and steam trains for goods traffic are allowed 41 hours foY the journey, with an allowance of time for picking up and unhooking wagons at intermediate stations. On the subject of rolling stock, the report points out that ■ there is little doubt that the Diesel railcar appeals to the public, and that operated by one man. they conhl he used most economically. Accommodation for 50 passengers will be provided in the propelling units, and they wilt be capable of taking two trailer-ears, with additional accommodation for another 50 passengers when required. For goods services, two locomotives j would be required for operation between Napier and Wairoa, and two ' lighter engines for use between Wairoa. and Waikokopu, with a suitable complement of wagons of the various types likely to be called for by the class of trade catered for. The estimates of returns front operation are compressed into the following figures:— £ Passengers (40,000) .. .. 10,000 Stock carried .. .. .. 12,355 Miscellaneous goods .. .. 9,723 j MR. WHITLOCK’S SPECIAL REPORT 1 A significant feature of the special report submitted to the Napier-Wairoa committee by Mr, W. C. Whitlock, in connection with the report furnished by Mr. Smith, is that the carriage of stock is looked on as one of the main objects of the line. In a survey of transport figures for the area to be served by the line, Mr. Whitlock, who represented- the committee in investigating tlie possibilities of the line apart from engineering features, draws attention to the amount of stock carried between Wairoa and Napier annually. Last season, for instance, 132,000 head of fat sheep and lambs were carried and 149,976 head of store sheep and lambs,other items of primary produce included in the survey being 12,921 head of cattle, 16,005 bales of wool, 820 tons of butter, 11,839 bales of skins . and hides, and 1839 pigs. .Sawn timber contributed 3,000,000 feet, firewood .1500 tons, manures' 1500 tons, and fencing posts and battens further substantial items. Goods and mails, parcels and luggage completely dissociated from the primary industries totalled 3600 tons, on the other hand. It is obvious that if the line is to realise expectations held by the com-

mittee, it will depend substantially on the products of the farming community, and in this connection Mr. Whitlock observes:—

“Although there can be no definite* assurance that all transport will revert to the railway immediately the line is completed, the figures enumerated may be used as a safe basis on which to work out an estimate of the prospective revenue. It also should be kept in mind that when a serviceable timetable has been in operation sufficiently long to bring into effect the increased productivity of the area it serves, the revenue will be substantially increased. “The economic range of operation of a road lorry is relatively small when compared with railway transport and with tho keen world competition existing to-day farmers will quickly realise the importance of reducing their transport costs by taking advantage of tho cheaper freight rates the lino will provide.’ ’ In the matter of developmental value. Mr. Whitlock’s report refers to the possibilities of closer settlement oil lands near Putorino, by the use of fertilisers which the railway could deliver at rates much below those now ruling for haulage of tills item. He instances the information he procured of one settler’s costs for fertilisers, amounting to £3 per ton from Wanganui, and states that the railway could bring this cost down to 12s per ton, to the immense advantage of the farmers of the district and the benefit of the land for farming purposes. Lime from Napier was another item of farm requirements which should he in great demand if freights could be reduced to a- , basis comparable with those ruling in districts already served by the New Zealand railways. NAPIER COMMENT

Commenting editorially upon the contents of the two reports reviewed above, the Napier Daily Telegraph states, inter alia : . .

“There is one point in the project upon which the committee which is handling the investigation will probably have to take a definite decision —that is, the type of service with which the operation of the line should bo started. It is certain that, for immediate requirements, a goods service only should be sufficient. The postponement of the institution of a passenger service would eliminate a large proportion of tho initial capital costs, and would, at the same tune, give the goods service a better oppor tunity of establishing itself ou a payablo basis. “The operation of a passenger line, requiring additional outlay, the employment of a larger staff, and tne maintenance of a higher standard of rolling stock and service, far from increasing the remunerative capacity of the line, would probably prove a factor of regressive influence to tho capabilities ot the goods service. The institution of a goods service in the meantime should recommend itself as a wholly attractive proposition. It is Inconceivable that the line would not prove profitable on tho capital outlay which such a service would require, and it would probably be found that a passenger service could economically be added at no far distant date.” SALVAGE PROBLEM A factor of very considerable interest to the Napior-Wairoa Railway' Committee, it was revealed at a meeting of that 'body held last week to discuss the reports of Messrs. Smith and Whitlock, is the salvage value 'placed on tho Napior-Wairoa section by the Government. This value luis been assessed at £150,000, but the question which has yet to ho settled covers the material included in the assessment. For instance, the compiler of the engineering report indicated that he had been unable to settle on the capital outlay for construction, without knowing what the salvage value included. Respecting the stool of the Mohaka viaduct, Mr Smith stated in reply to a question that he had not allowed anything for the purchase of lhe material, which was on the ground. Other details of construction costs were also impossible to finalise until the Government gave a more specific intimation of what the salvage value of £150,000 included’.