ECONOMY DRIVE.

Hokitika Guardian, 13 January 1928, Page 3

ECONOMY DRIVE.

IN NEW SOUTH WALES. SYDNEY. Jan. 3. The public is somewhat relieved to know that while it is being hit in the form of increased tram and train fares, the State Government proposed to explore fully the bigger lields ol expenditure, in order to overcome the position created by the last Government’s financial debauch. The harbour bridge, the ( itv Railway underground, the electrification and widening of suburban lines, and new rolling stock are alone swallowing up the huge sum of nearly £2(1,000,000. That is the official estimate, and, like most estimates of tlie sort, it is likely to be very much under the mark when the bill is finally made out. 'flic City Railway will cost the best part of 07,000,000, possibly more. This vast outlay is not at all comforting to rural interests when they go cap in band to a Government largely of their own making, and are told that the cupboard, like that of .Mother Hubbard, is bare. That the Country Rarty Mininters will bring pressure to bear on Cabinet to try to lop a few millions off this expenditure is inevitable. There is already a strong agitation in the Press to economise on the City Railway by planning a less costly scheme than that proposed at ( ireular Quay. There the railway will he above the ground. It will mean the demolition of the greater part of the wharves at the quay, and of two other big buildings. The Government is being told plainly that a costly scheme there will be unwarranted, since with the diversion of traffic over the bridge Circular Quay will lie the least important of the underground stations. Probably the most important railway station in Australia when the bridge spans the harbour will bo that at AAynyard square. It will accommodate about 350.000 passengers daily.