RAILWAY HISTORY

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume LXIV, Issue 19365, 1 July 1937, Page 3

RAILWAY HISTORY

EAST COAST MAIN TRUNK PROGRESS TWICE HALTED ABORTIVE NO AT APA PLAN FTNAIi SUCCESS ASSURED (Spprinl to tho Herald.) WAIROA, this- day. Twice started and twice halted, prior to the advent of the Labour Government now in power, the GisborneNapicr railway link has had a chequered history, and has been the subject of an immense amount of agitation during the past 30 years. The commencement of the Ngatapa route from Poverty Bay to Wairoa, and its subsequent abandonment, the “battle of the routes" which developed around a former Governmnet’s decision to use the Wairoa-Waikokopu spur line as an integral part of the Main Trunk line, and the long sustained and unremitting pressure on different Governments to carry on the work were recalled to many who attended's yesterday’s funtcion at Mohaka. Some of the major issues raised from time to time during the districts' campaign lor railway communication were referred to in a review of the whole subject of railway construction on the East Coast prepared by the Minister of Public Works, the Hon. R. Semple, and read on his behalf to the gathering at the viaduct by Mr. E. P. Meachen, M.P. for Wairau. The Minister’s statement recalled that work on the Gisborne-Napier line had proceeded intermittently since 1912, in which year construction was commenced at Ngatapa and at Napier, work proceeding at these two localities simultaneously. Inland Route Abandoned Part of tho inland route from Gisborne to Wairoa proved to be in very bad country foe railway construction, and eventually the project was abandoned in favour of the coastal route, as far as. the Gisborne-Wairoa connection was concerned. The Napier activity did not achieve much more than the construction of the inner harbour bridge and the railway embankment, prior to the interruption of railway construction generally by the Great War. In 1920 the Government of the day had opened up various sections of the Napier-Wairoa portion of .the line, and steady though not spectacular progress was made until in 1930 the line was completed from Napier to Putorino. In the picantime, the WairoaWaikokopu link had been constructed, but as it, was an isolated section, the Public Works Department continued to run the service. Work on the Gisbornc-Waikokopu portion of the line was commenced during 1930, but construction was stopped at the end of that year, and most of the 800 men engaged there were transferred to other public works. The Napier-Wairoa portion was under construction until February, 1931, but the earthquakes of that month had done considerable damage to the line, and the work was suspended there likewise. Earthquake Damage to Line At that, time the Napier-Putorino section had been taken over by the Railways Department, and the Puto-rino-Wairoa section was almost completed. The Mohaka viaduct, about seven miles of plate-laying, the construction of station yards, and a considerable amount of ballasting still remained to be done when the earthquakes interrupted construction on this section. On the Wairoa-Waikokopu section, the line was complete save for the construction of station yards and building. Between Waikokopu and Gisborne, little had been done beyond opening up the cuttings and the formation of camps, with their installations of plant. Further in the review, the Minister referred to the districts’ agitation for the resumption of work, and the negotiations wftich Mr. W.. D. Lysnar had initiated with a view to private enterprise taking over the line. “Probably owing to the general financial depression, and the difficulty of reconciling tho views of the proposed company and the New Zealand Government, the negotiations were not completed.” the Minister pointed out, “and no further progress was made in regard to the construction of the railway, until the work was put in hand in July of last year.” Referring to the progress of the work since that time, the Minister indicated that arrangements were proceeding for the construtcion of station yards and buildings between Wairoa and Putorino, and between Wairoa and Waikokopu. On the WaikokopuGisborne section, all the major cuttings were manned, and construction was proceeding at both ends of 10 out of the 13 tunnels, while in four of the smaller tunnels, the bottom heading had been driven right through. Work on the Gisborne End Plant for the bigger tunnels was all on the ground, and in some instances already installed. The construction of four small bridges at the Gisborne end had been completed, and work was under way on the big Waipaoa River bridge, steel plate girders for which were being fabricated in the Hutt railway workshops. Orders were being placed for the plate girder spans required for the other bridges on the route, designs for the bridges having been well advanced in all cases, and completed in some. The total number of men engaged on the Napier-Gisborne line, the statement intimated, was 1292, distributed as follows:-*— Napier-Wairoa, 332; Wai-kokopu-Wairoa, (H; Kopuawhara section, 394; Wharerata section, 4(i(i; Gisborne section, 39; total, 1292. The expenditure of public funds upon tho line, up to tho time the work was resumed in July last year, had totalled £5,049,000, of which £1,484,000 represented interest payments, the annual interest bill for tho previous five years having been £IOO,OOO. The estimated expenditure necessary to complete the line to Gisborne, at the, time work was resumed, was £1,032,500, of which £50,000 was allocated to the Napier-Putorino section for reconditioning, £150,000 for the Putorino-Wairoa section, including the cost of erecting tho viaduct at Mohaka; £32,500 for the WairoaWaikokopu section; and £1,400,000 for the Waikokopu-Gisborne section. The Minister’s statement closed with the observation that since those figures were compiled, wages and material costs had risen somewhat, so that the final costs of the line might he slightly above those estimated.