Loan To Pay For Railway Waggons

Press, Volume CV, Issue 31003, 8 March 1966, Page 3

Loan To Pay For Railway Waggons

(New Zealand Press Association) DUNEDIN, March 7. The recent £l5 million railway loan from the World Bank would be used for waggon reequipment and completing the change from steam to diesel locomotives, the general manager of railways (Mr A. T. Gandell) said in Dunedin today.

Mr Gandell, who is touring ■the Otago and Southland railway system, said: “It is uneconomic to go on repairing obsolete waggons. New waggons will not only carry more, but release labour from repairing work to building new waggons. “Contracts have been awarded overseas for 2400 general purpose waggons, and tenders have just been received for a further 400 waggons.” Overseas waggons were already arriving in knockeddown form, and were being rapidly assembled. Mr Gandell said the railwayworkshops were being used to capacity to produce a further 900 waggons and there would be a continuing programme in this work. He said the Hillside and Addington workshops were each building 20 diesel shunting locomotives, and a contract was about to be awarded for a further 15 smaller engines.

Tenders were being called for 84 main-line diesel locomotives, but the contracts would not be issued before June. The change from steam to diesel would depend on the rate of delivery, said Mr Gandell.