GISBORNE REJOICES.

Evening Star, Issue 24294, 8 September 1942, Page 2

GISBORNE REJOICES.

Gxsbokne rejoices, and, in all the circumstances of the case, the rest of the Dominion rill have no mind to grieve, because, after something more than a quarter of a century, the northern city’s railway communication with Napier has been completed. It is not to bo expected that this lino will pay interest on a construction cost of six million pounds, and the deficiency must be borne by the Dominion as a whole, but the alternative for Gisborne was a serious one. Normally needs might have been met by motor traffic, in which case the only argument for finishing the line might have been the huge amount of money already sunk in it, but the war has altered conditions. In a f£w months, owing to shortage of rubber, there may he no motor traffic to servo necessities. It would be heart-breaking going back to the old days of steamer service, at a port which is dependent on lighters and tides, and these are days of difficulty also for shipping. In the circumstances made by the war railways generally have been doing better than they were before it, and have had more values for the community, though that probably is uo more than a passing phase. Goods trains have been running for a month past between Napier and Gisborne, and the first passenger train ran on Monday. The line, which was suspended in depression days, lias been a difficult one to construct, and engineers at least can point with pride to some triumphs over difficulties whicli it displays. In the Public Works Statement presented last month it was stated that railway construction generally was at a standstill, but Gisborne has now its heart’s desire, and it lias been announced that, once again owing to rubber shortage, the Blenheinr-Kaikoura lino is to be completed, which it is estimated can be done in five months. A gap below Kaikoura may take longer, owing to shortage of materials, but when the lino runs continuously between Christchurch and Blenheim two long-creeping works will be finished, along with the discussions they have provoked.