Local Railway Improvements.

Press, Volume LXI, Issue 18422, 1 July 1925, Page 8

Local Railway Improvements.

No fault can be found Avith the tone of the Prime Minister's statement in Parliament yesterday on the subject of the Christehureh railway improvements, and it Avould be unreasonable to complain of its content except in one respect. Mr Coates says that " there is nothing to prevent the u duplication of the tunnel,;' but that Messrs Mertz and McLellan have advised holding the work over until their report has been received. If this involved no more than delaying operations for a week or two there would be little reason to complain; but the delay that has already taken place is both bewildering and exasperating, and to ask Canterbury to wait until those

responsible for electrifying the tunnel have decided how it is to be duplicated —if that is -what the Prime Minister means —is stretching the public patience a little severely. It is difficult to understand why a firm of electrical engineers should wish to influence the plans of civil engineers, and the Government must not be surprised if a section of the public refuse to accept such an explanation as bona fide. There must be months of work to be done before any question can arise about the power and lighting arrangements, or before the progress made will have reached a stage at which modifications of the tunnel design would involve delay or loss. That at any rate is how the matter will appear to nine out of ten laymen, and it happens that the public of Canterbury know more about tunnel construction and tunnel delays than the people of any other province. The fact that there is such a good excuse for holding up the additions and improvements to the marshalling yards is a reason why tunnelling should have been started earlier than was intended and not later. After all, the only evidence of any Governments good intentions in which all sections of the public can be expected to believe is the arrival of men and plant on the ground ready for work. "We know that very few of our readers sympathise with those who see party or provincial reasons for such delays, but the Government must realise that there are people in Canterbury who are very ready to misinterpret its policy, and that it is giving them an opportunity at present for doing so.