RAILWAY CURTAILMENT

Press, Volume LIII, Issue 15873, 12 April 1917, Page 6

RAILWAY CURTAILMENT

THE EXPRESS SERVICES. The question of the alleged differential treatment of the two islands in regard to the express railway services came up at Tuesday's deputation to the Minister of Railways (telegraphs the Auckland correspondent of the "Otago Daily Times"). "I suppose," said Mr Herries, in his reply to the deputation, "that I must say something about the tw<) expresses. If' Dunedin were about as distant from Christchurch as Ohakuhe is from Auckland, the South Island would havo no need for two expresses on the line of railway. Wo have to consider in the South Island not the line between Christchurch Jhjd Dunedin, but the through line from Christchnrch to Inve rear gill—which corresponds to the lino between Auckland and Wellington in point of distance—and the continuation of that line and the numerous feeders that come into it. The comparison should bo between Christchnrch and Invercargill and between Auckland and Wellington." The Minister said that, there was great disgust among tho people of Invcrcargill and Gore, and other people south of Dunedin. They were going to have no through express from one end of the line to tho other, so that they were worse off than others, and had some reason for saying that the Government were favouring Auckland at the expense of the- South Island. Mr Parr M.P.: But you hare oneeighth of the population of the Dominion in Auckland.

Mr Herrios said the essence of tho thing was to consider the length of the line and its feeders. It would bo impossible for tho "Deportment to make its arrangements in any other way. The Department was allowing two expresses to run from Christchurch to Dunodin because they fed Tiinaru and Oamafu and other large towns —larger towns than thero wpr<> between Auckland and Ohakune. In tho Auckland district there were daily expresses to Thames, to Rotorua, and to Taumarunui. These corresponded to the expresses "between Christchurch and Dunedin, and through traffic on tho southern lines was beinp completely cut off. His officers told him that," as far as tho traffic -was concerned, it would bo impossible to take off tho two expresses between Christchurch anrt Ihmedin.