TRAMWAY LOAN

Press, Volume LVI, Issue 16724, 6 January 1920, Page 6

TRAMWAY LOAN

PROPOSALS. ♦ THE MOST URGENT WORKS. Next month a poll of ratepayers in the Christchurch Tramway District will bp taken to sanction the ' Board raising a lean of £310.000 : ior improvements and extensions ! to the system. A "Press" reporter interviewed tho Hon. .1. Barr, chairman of the Board. Inst right, with a view to asc.Training wii.it loan works would be urgently carried out in the event of tho poll being carried. Mr Barr said that the must lueossai v new work was the erection of a work- : shop and machinery plant. Owing to j the growth of the tram undertaking | th- present machinery for coping with , ivpairs and essential work had becoiiie not only inadequate, bat entirely oat-oi-dare. Tho iirst. essential in connexion with tramway undertakings, was in keep the cars in trallie, but at ■ i.ie same tune certain essential over- ■ hauls had to take place continuously. It was necessary that repairs shouid be dune as sjK'odily as passible, so ! that the cars may 'oe put into cummis- j sion again. With the present maeiiin- i cry and workshops unnecessary d-lay i took place. It was owing to this fait i that what might be termed the lirst : order ot preference was given to new j machinery and workshops. A.s was | well known in the period that had ; elapsed sine - the inauguration of tho | system there bad been rapid develop- j mont in engineering machinery nnd I methods of coping with the repairs to 1 tratnears. The existing shells, furthermore, were at tho present time inadequate to house the rolling stock now employed. Taking into consideration that between 20 and 30 new cars would bo put on tilt; road, it was essential that new sheds, or additional sheds, should also he built. This scheme necessitated more land being acquired, as almost, every available yard owned by the Board was occupied at the present time. The acquirement of new land would enable the Board to put up additional sheds, and complete workshops that would not only b:' up-to-date and have accommodation so far ns machinery was concerned, but would havo accommodation for the modern requirements of tho employees. The increase in traffic had made certain alterations in the present lino "lay-out" noccssarv. Double tracks wore required on some lines where there wore now only single tracks, thus enabling, on busy occasions, a faster service nnd greater economy. Certain loops nnd deviations wero also necessary. One of the most important alterations in tho present layout of tho servico would be that to Riccarton racecourse, where it was proposed to lay out a double track, and lift a good portion of the present track on to tho proper placo on the road, reducing inconvenience to other traflic through the present track being too near to one side of the road. It had heen stated tint an endeavour would bo mado to divert all traffic from Cathedral square. That was impossible, ns the Square was tho centre, and had lieeomo a settled institution, not through nny action of tho Tramway Bnartf, but owing to companies preceding it having established the centre there. Certain alterations were proposed, however, that would tend to reduce tho stream of traffic going past the Bank of New Zealand corner. With rospect to the extensions, it should bo clearly understood while power was sought to borrow certain moneys for a number of extensions, that largelv owing to difficulties of obtaining labour at the present time, there was no likelihood of thero being more than one, or at tho most two, extensions going on at tho ono time. Furthermore, it worth! he quite apparent that laying out of-extensions would be to a cortain extent handicapped with the present shortage of stock, so that it niitrlit bo anticipated that extensions would go hand in hand with the additions to the rollinT stock. Mr Barr, in concluding his remarks, said that the loan money asked fcr might seem large, hut it was not any more than was necessary to bring tho Christchurch tramway undertaking thoroughly up-to-date.