THE TE ARO RAILWAY.

Dominion, Volume 5, Issue 1542, 11 September 1912, Page 4

THE TE ARO RAILWAY.

Sit,—l have read with astonishment tho remarks mode by Mr. !•'. Flechcr, chairman of the Harbour Hoard. I was nlwavs of the opinion that he was a reasunab'lo man, but after reading his attack on tho Xe Aro railway 1 am puzzled to know why ho wishes to penalise tho unfortunate, residents of Te Aro, who are penalised every time they use the trains coming and going to the country in tho way of having to pay extortionate charges for cabs and motor-cars, not to speak of the cost ot the trams, which you cannot always get when you want them. Mr. Fletcher has had very little experience.in railway and business matters. His car y training was mostly connected with seatanng. Now, how can you' expect a man who, has not been brought up as a business man to understand whether a yiilway is wanted at Te Aro or not? Ho tMks about being jealous of their interest at .Ps Aro being touched. The Government, if it wants„.t-he-land, will, have to' ?? y ™ I'; lt cannot tako it for nothing/ Mr. l'letcher says, they would only pay the cost ot reclamation, and tho. board would lose its endowments . I'.fail to seo what use it has been put to at present. It will be manyyears before there will bo any. now warehouses wanted, ns tho place has been overbuilt in that respect, unless' tho tramc to re Aro is improved and made payable, then the whole neighbourhood will bobm. People cannot uso the trains at present because they never know when certain nuns now running will be knocked off the time-table or altered. The mail trains are started at Thomdon, which is three and four miles away from some portions .of the city. Mr. Jones's remarks aro 'absolutely ridiculous. He says trains aro an unmitigated nuisance. Mr. Jones is the manager for the Huddart-Parkcr, whose offices are near the Queen's Wharf, and Ins tranquillity is occasionally disturbed by the whistle of the trains passing his office when ho wishes to bo left undisturbed and happy and free from cares ana annoyances. Tho last distinguished sneaker was Mr. Percy Ireeth. A railway whistle has annoyed Mr Freeth, and ho has risen in his anger to strike. He says it would bo a great detriment if tho new station was pushed forward. Ho says ho fails to see m the near future how the city can carry all its ordinary traffic through the main streets Mr. Ireeth must be deficient of knowledge when ho argues thus. Every child in the street can (ell you that owing to the situation of the present railway at lhorndon, with no goods station at To Aro, that all the goods must be. carried through tho city, which, had a goods shed been put up, would have sent it direct to the heart of the city at To Aro. Why it is costing the city thousands of pounds annually for the upkeep of the streets through the cartage of huge loads of timber and produce through the streets they are already congested, and would not tins railway relieve the said congestion ? io sum lip the whole situation, the agitation against tho railway station at To Aro has been worked by a few irritable disappointed men, who are like "the three tailors of Toolcy. Street." They are the people. Their .wish should take precedence of a 1 others. The poor people can sutler and have to pay extortionate fares ] tor cabs and motor-cars, as long as these few nobodies m the Chamber of Commerce and the Harbour Board havo their wav iho Government will-be covering itself with shame if it ever listens .to these P, e It should immediately close up tho Thorndpn station, removo some of the wooden buildings to Te Ato—it would not' cost much-and run the mail trains right through to the heart of the citv. The Lambton station is quite good enough for the next ten years, with an additional platform shelter, and I see that the' .■Manager of Railways is already extending the roofing oyer the platform as far up as Bunny Street.—l Q m, etc., ' I TE ABO RESIDENT. I