British Coal Arrives for Railways

Grey River Argus, 6 April 1948, Page 4

British Coal Arrives for Railways

AUCKLAND, April 5. Nine thousand tons of English coal which reached Auckland from Immingham on Saturday in the British steamer Broompark arrived when the Railway Department’s stocks are low. A department official said that there was less than one week’s supply of coal in the division between Auckland and Taihape and that the department was looking forward 10 the landing of the shipment. The Broompark went to anchor on arrival because of the port congestion and in normal circumstances it would not obtain a berth for at least a week but some priority may be asked by the Government in obtaining a berth and the coal will be distributed evenly among the depots at Auckland, Frankton Junction and Taumarunul immediately. The Broompark’s cargo is the second shipmenl of British coal for the Railways to reach New Zealand under the new contract. The first shipment was a consignment of 9000 tons which reached Wellington from Hull last week in the steamer Rocky Mountains Park, and it was. the first coal imported from Britain since 1939. Both shipments are of the highest quality coal. British coal has been used by the Railways Department since 1924; but since the war more than 92,300 tons have been received under American contracts. The balance of 36 000 ions is stil to come from the United States. The Under-Secretary for Mines, Mr C, H. Benney, announced in January that the January-February allocation at first of 20,000 tons of British coal had been reduced to 10,000 tons and that the Government was attempting to purchase the balance, from South Africa and India. He commented that New Zealand’s coal problem was not simply one of increased production. The greatest need was for bituminous coal of low sulphur content, suitable for gasworks and locomotive use. This was the type of coal to-be imported from Britain.