MANAWATU TRAINS.

Dominion, Volume 7, Issue 1885, 20 October 1913, Page 11

MANAWATU TRAINS.

Sir, —In your report in to-day's paper in regard to the Petition of Manawatu Railway suburban", residents to the House of Representatives, Mr; V. H. D, 8011, M.P., points out that ho expert evidence was called before the Railways Committee on the side of the petitioners. The reason why this was so is that it is difficult to. obtain the services af engineers especially qualified to give expert reports on the road alterations as well as on tho interlocking work (tho .major consideration in the cost of the alterations), and in fact the only interlocking expert whose report would carry weight is in the service of the Railway Department. The Railway Department, having a monopoly of the . railways in New Zealand, nave also to a large extent a monopoly of tho expert railway engineers. For a satisfactory report, it would be necessary to put Before engineers a plan of tho yards, as the rails lie at and also flia plan which the..Railway Department officials admitted has been prepared, but which has not yet been adopted. Had the plan been adopted, and the work commenced, it might be possible to gain access to those plans, but we know that the Department will not allow examinations of those plans, and'consequently that it is futile to atfemptrto bring forward outside. expert opinion to contrast with that' of the Railway officials. . ' Our position is really this: Wo have' failed to prove that the obstacles raised by tho Railway Department are not genuino obstacles, and wo could only attempt to prove it by expert evidence. And now wo are asked to awqit the commencement of tho new Railway Station works, a loan for which Mr. Herries expects to secure next year. If we .did not know that politicians' promises are like pio-crusts—and Mr. Horries has made no definite promise—wo should be content to await the commencement of that bUg work, and not ask the Reform Government to risk wasting money on us; but Mr. Herries has had this matter directly under his notice since last January, and even now he does iiot seem to have had his principal officers together in a conference for the purpose of giviiigT-rif possible—the relief the petitioners ask. If wd'aro asking too much, why cannot the new works be begun at otico. It will take six or Beven years probably to complete, and a largo amount of preliminary work will be necessary. If £60,000 to £70,000 were spent annually (and it would pay tile Department authorities to spend more and at tho same time get good, value for it), the completion woula he* hastened and wo could tlion see a cffance of being put down at Lambton by 1920. Such a sum tho Minister of Railways should bo able to socure for this year and next, and the balance could bo left for subsequept years to find. Tho buildings conld be erected last. New "and larger goods-sheds will probably be needed very -soon., Our Railway League will no doubt tako an early opportunity to consider tho result of tho petition.—l am, etc. HERBERT % KIRKOALDIE. Khandallah, October 17, 1913.