Our Railways

Horowhenua Chronicle, 4 February 1914, Page 3

Our Railways

ft: (From the New Zealand Official Year Book./ Seville history and progress of railin New Zealand was egeeiIpilly described in the Yea * Book of 111:894:, as was also fhe Jiite partly pouilt by the New Zealand ' Midv land Railway Company! An acpsCOunt of the line lately belonging p-'to the Wellington and Manawatu jpflt.u ihvay Company was published HifclkeV Year Book for 1895. In p&&>,year 1860 a contract was let \ *?*J * ne construction of the first Zealand railway. Up to the !]; year 1870 there were only 40 miles :■ of railway in operation. In that £'-y&ar the construction of railways to be part of the public f works policy just then initiated, |;-«md the Railways Act of 1870 authorised certain lines to be made § ; and surveys of others. In 1870 j'the l abolition of the provinces the earlier-constructed IWailways in the hands of the GenAt that time fthere were 718 miles open for trafIn December, 1908, the acquired by purchase £,ihe railway between Wellington ■ and Longburn, eighty-iour miles !■ in length, completed m 1886 by the Wellington Manawatu RailSway Company. The entire rail- , way system, with the exception of L a lew miles of private lines used I for specific purposes, such as the icarriage of coal, timber, or stone, 08 now owned and controlled by the : : State. The length of Govern-;-3Dent railways open on the 31st of ' March, 1912, was 2,798 miles, of : which. 1,173 were situated in the "sNortb. Island and 1,625 in the "■South Island. The sections of |tne North Island lines consists of jtlie Whangarei-Kawakawa, 58 •;iniles; Kaihu, 17; Gisborne-Wai-■ptohu, 23; and the North Island paain line and branches, 1,075 pniles. The South Island secktibns comprise the South Island *main line and branches l x iib7 .miles; Wesland, 141; Wesport, 31:; Nelson, 48;Ficton 48 miles. The' estimated total cost of construction to 31st March, 1912, was £30,506,089 (besides £2, 183,090 spent on unopened lines), and dhe average cost per mile of open line £10,864.