TO ARO STATION.

Dominion, Volume 5, Issue 1518, 14 August 1912, Page 5

TO ARO STATION.

.Sir,—l see by yours of Gth instant that the Chamber of Commerce has returned to the attack on the closing of the 'l'o Aro Stati m and line leading thereto. This may be a topic lor nlter-uinner speeches for tlio gentlemen composing lhi> Wellington Cnamber >of Commerce, but the deliberations of these gentlemen have a cerium amount of power behind them, but their capabilities of discussing railway mutters stew to fco veryague, as most of tliem havo no knowledge of railway management. As there does not teem to be cnicient management at lha present time at the head .of th"S"Railway Department, there is a possibility that the Minister might be inlluencej 1.-v the voice of these gentlemen. 1 consider that.it .is high time that this periodical cry. was silenced once for all. Wo have heard lately all the old pros and cons over again, but there is one aspect of the case that has escajitd the atlenti.m of nil the parties that have entered into tlio * discussion. With your permission, sir, I will stato it as well as 1 can, and, in doing, so, 1 might say that I had a number of years in the locomotive department of one of. the principal railway companies, in Britain, and was ablo to judge the advantage of an outlet from important terminal stations. There should be no short-sighted policy in administering the railways of Xew Zealand. If ever there is going to be anything like a frequent suburban service about Wellington, running oiit .to tho suburbs oil both the Hutt and Jlanawatu lines, it is very desirable to have an .out"let|for trains arriving at Lambton Slation.. ] might'here digress a little, to soy that it seems. to bo. a. very poor policy to terminate important trains at the ilanawatu Station. There can be no excuse for the management not running theso trains to Lambton Station now, as ljiost railway men know that, on the arrival of trains at terminal stations there are frequently carriages to be put off wanting repairs. Then,the engines want some attention, in the shape of coal and water. This could, all be got at Te Aro, and'it would not cause any detention to any other trains entering Lambton Station. Of course, all trains would not require to go to To Aro Station. Some time ago, I noticed someone advocating dock platforms for the proposed new railway station. I think this would be a very foolish policy, as it would cause a lot of detention. Most of tho important railway companies in Britain make a point of having an outlet so as to get trains arriving at a busy centre away to soma outside station, so that theso trains can be-put right for tho next trip.' I am aware that there are a lot of dock stations in Britain, but tho companies are hampered for room; somo of these stations have as many as sixteen platforms. This enables a lot of trains following others from different places 'into ono station to bo admitted in quick succession, as there would not be any. time to get any of these trains out of theso dock platforms and allow another train to approach the station. As most railway men will know, that under the station-and junction block

system of tram-signalling, "a signalman cannot take on a train from the station in the rear when another train is backing out of the station, except it could bo shunted into a siding.or crossing out of that station, tat this would stop any shunting operations that might be in progress at the time. It seems that in the course of a feiv years tho-Railway Department will bo hampered for room _ for goods' sidings about Wellington. This is a very important' matter, and should not be lost sight of," as, with hampered siding accommodation, means more shunting, and also delay to traffic, and more work for the staff dealing with it. Then, as regards the cry of loss on the lino to To Aro, it seems a poor policy to class every mile of railway on what it earns. It strikes me there aro more miles of railway in Xew Zealand that are rot paying. Would the Chamber of Commerco close these also? I notice that tho Government is going to get a new General Manager of Railways. The Chamber of Commerco should wait and get. his opinion on the matter.—l am, etc., THOMAS M. iriLIJGAN., August 8, 11)12.