SMALLER RAILWAY STATIONS TO GO

Chronicle (Levin), 31 July 1946, Page 8

SMALLER RAILWAY STATIONS TO GO

CONCENTRATION ON RQAD TRANlSPORT , With the apparent niounting use of road transport by the State revealed in th.e opening of new road serviees connecting the several eentres in the North Island, it is learned that many of the smaller railway stations may be dispensed with. This would appear to arise from the diversion of a great deal of goods traffie from rail to road on account of the mability of the railways to cope with the situation brought about by the shortage of coal. The restricted rail serviees combined with the States' development of i;oad serviees .^uggests. that fhe ebuatiy/s ma|or transTortisyMem^ ikV facin'g :■ eifbtffnstances whieh are' preventiiig it f rom'- operatlhg economieally. . Tlie inability of the railways to handle the fertiliser output and the recourse to road transport, is a reeent illustration of the pass to which our railway system has come. Road transport was accorded an almost free hand to engage in the transport of fertiliser from the works to i'arms. Normally the retail service was able to deal with fbis heavy haulage but with train .serviees eurtailed the^only alternative means of getting the manures out to the farms from the works was by utilising the vehicles of road transport operatofs. Passenger transport, per rail has become increasingly difiicult. Facilities have been eurtailed and the State has entered into eompetition with road passenger serviees in putting on buses with the stated object of providing additional travel facilities. Recent happenings regarding the eurtailed rail serviees suggest that tlie eountry's major transport system may be facing a crisis. Jn turn the diversion of heavy goods to long haulage on roads by fast moving motor vehicles will undoubtedly have a serious elfect on the highways whieh are suffering from inadequate maintenanee and the shortage of 'essential materials such as bitumen.