THE MAIN TRUNK RAILWAY.

Press, Volume LX, Issue 11509, 16 February 1903, Page 4

THE MAIN TRUNK RAILWAY.

Probably no one who realised the amount of work yet to be accomplished ever really believed that the North Island Mam Trunk Railway would be completed next year, as Mr Hall-Jones so confidently predicted. Considering that during their twelve years of office the Seddon Government have "pushed on" the most important railway work of its kind in the colony at the rate, up to March last, of less than two miles a year, such scepticism was hardly surprising. The Government's pact record in railway construction is not exactly calculated to Inspire much hope of expedition in the neat future, or much confidence in promises, such as that held out by the Minister of Public Works. At a recent public meeting held in Auckland, the hope was expressed that the line would be completed by 1905. But the latest reports of the progress of the work suggest that even this forecast was much too optimistic. A representative of the "New Zealand Herald," who traversed the route of the Main Trunk Railway the other day, states that there is very little probability of the line being finished by ISOS, or the yeai following. "The probable date at which "the line will be completed," he cays, "even under any circumstances, must re"main a matter of speculation for the "present, but 1908 has been mentioned as "a likely date, and there seems little " probability of the end of the undertaking "being reached before 1906 or 1907 at the "earliest. A great amount of work, it seems, still remains to be done, and the construction of the line ia being delayed by difficulties which should never have been allowed to stand in the way. At present the line has been completed and opened to traffic from the northern end as far as Poro-o-tarao, about 146 miles south of Auckland. The line from Poro-o-tarao to Ongarue, fifteen miles further south, has been ready for traffic for several months past, but frequent landslips have prevented i the trains from running regularly over this, section, and the Railway Department have not yet taken it over from the Public Works Department. Ongarue, a little settlement built on native land, ia the present terminus of the completed line, bnt trains run pow as far as Taumaranui, fourteen miles further south, and about two miles north of the spot where the Main Trunk route crosses the Wanganui river. Formation works have.been proceeding for months on the south side of this river, but the delay in erecting the necessary bridge has proved a serious block to the progress of the line. A contract waa let for the building of the bridge, but al-

though the contract time has nearly expired! the work on the ground has not yet been commenced. Meanwhile the work is seriously hampered by the absence of even a temporary wooden structure aoross the river. The great majority of the men now working on the line are employed on the formation works south of the Wanganui river, and all their material and food supplies have to be ferried across a rough ford and carted to their stores at Piriak*. The difficulties of transport have naturally Increased the cost of living for the workmen, and with the high prices ruling many of those who have wives and families to support complain that they can barely pay their way. This hardship might be avoidecj, and the progress of the work be accelerated considerably, were tha' Department to erect a temporary bridge. As It is the line for a mile or two on the south side has been completed for over a year, but as no train can cross the river this portion is simply going to waste. The embankment, it is said, is now overgrown with vegetation—a picture of neglect and u.elessness. Just at present the Department is making a considerable show of activity on the Main Trunk line, but whether this will continue long remains toj be seen. In any case the method of push-! ing on the work seems capable of considerable improvement.