LIGHT RAILWAYS.

King Country Chronicle, Volume VI, Issue 510, 19 October 1912, Page 5

LIGHT RAILWAYS.

TO SERVE NEW DISTRICTS. In the Public Works Statement, presented to Parliament yesterday, mention is made of the desirability of constructing light railways in new districts in order to carry the heavy traffic carried by roads in new settle ments. The following suggestion will be of interest to settlers throughout the district: —

"Hitherto all our railways have been constructed in accordance with a high standard as regards stability of formation, weight of rails, and quality of permanent-way generally, but 1 suggest to honourable members that the time has arrived when wo should consider the question of providing lighter and cheaper railways to serve the districts where settlement is advancing and where the maintenance of roads, in fit condition to carry produce to the main lines throughout the year, is likely to prove a heavy burden to the settlers. In the interior of the North Island, particularly, road construction is an expensive undertaking, and the maintenance under heavy and regular traffic is in many instances likely to be a continuous burden owing to the absence of metal and the rapid deterioration of the formation through broken country in wet weather. If the bulk of the produce could be carried on rails to the main lines, or an outlet to the markets, the roads would be relieved of the worst of the traffic, and the settlers would not be exposed to the heavy charges, and sometimes long delays, now incurred in bringing tneir piodudce to a distant railway. "It is not proposed to depart from the standard 3ft 6in gauge, but considerable saving can be effected by decreasing the width of banks, avoiding tunnels and heavy cutting by adopting a steeper maximum grade and sharper curves, constructing bridges of light design, using lighter rails than the present minimum of 551b, reducing the standard depth of ballasting, and greatly curtailing the expenitdure on station buildings."