RAILWAY DEVIATION

Waikato Times, Volume 126, Issue 21036, 12 February 1940, Page 10

RAILWAY DEVIATION

OKOIA=TURAKINA PROJECT RAPID PROGRESS OF WORK (By Telegraph.—Press Association) WANGANUI, Saturday Work is proceeding steadily on the Okoia-Turakina railway deviation, which will shorten the route by four miles, straighten the line and eliminate grades between Palmerston North and Wanganui. The Denlair tunnel of three-quarters of a mile has been pierced and the Turakina tunnel of a mile and a-quarter is expected to be finished in April. The length of the deviation is 10 miles. The now line will leave the present line near Turakina and, after crossing the Turakina and Wangaehu Rivers and the Wangaehu Valley, will rejoin the iVjstiing line about a mile and a-half south of Okoia. The work, which was begun in 1936, is estimated to cost more than half a million pounds. At Turakina 140 men are working, and at Denlair the complement, which at one stage was 300, has dwindled to 42. The running time between Turakina and Aramoho now takes nearly an hour with expresses. It is estimated that the timetable will be shortened by at least half an hour. Through steep grades being eliminated, it is estimated that on haylage alone, based on the present traffic, a saving will result of between £40,000 and £50.000 a year.