THE NORTHERN RAILWAYS

Kaipara and Waitemata Echo, 13 November 1919, Page 3

THE NORTHERN RAILWAYS

KARANGAHAPE STATION

[By "Wayfarer."]

The time has arrived when a new and up-to-date terminus for the North West Coast Railway has become an absolute necessity. This must be built on up-to-date lines to suit the great majority of the travelling public, and, from an economic standpoint, do away with useless and senseless wear and tear that has already existed far too long. The railway station for Kaipara and the north west coast must be built on the eastern slop© of Arch Hill Gully, not far removed from Karangahape Road and the Reservoir (Ponsonby Rd). The exact position must be fixed by computation and economic suitability. There exists in this locality sufficient open space, not only for a suitable passenger station, but also for a goods outlet to the north, where the trade in and out is ever on the increase. All trains for the north must be despatched from this point, and all trains arriving from the north terminate here. Any through passengers going further afield must be carried by tram to the foot of Queen Street, to join up with the Main Trunk or other trains required. Their railway tickets in this case will be supplemented with a tram ticket, issued by the railway department, the same as in any other wellregulated city. The railway reimburses the tram or Council for all passengers carried, and pays toll once each month. This terminus cuts out one of the most expensive pieces of line I have ever witnessed in any civilised land —that from Auckland to Mt. Eden—where the wastage of coal, the wear and tear, the backing and filling and bumping at Newmarket, are in themselves enough to give *ny ordinary mortal a bad head or a fit of nerves. Ido not exaggerate when I tell my readers that this piece of line knocks more out of locomotives than 20 miles of open line on a 1 in 100 grade. Yet this wastage is allowed to go on, trains and passengers are delayed unmercifully, and officials are paid high salaries for looking serious and doing nothing. How long, oh Lord, how long will the public endure this wastage ? Then the line must be doubled from Karangahape to Helensville, and trains run from these stations — now 34 miles apart —in 70 minutes. The Land Board is doing good work in settling people on the Northern lands, the Northern railway is forging northward, but what is the use of running a train at 22 miles an hour if, through congestion, your speed is reduced to 10 miles an hour hetween Helensville and Karangahape, caused by want of organisation and up-to-date methods. All goods for mixed trains can be run to the new station by suburban shunting staffs, but the time is ripe for a goods station for the North, to be erected at or near Karangahape Road. There should be no delay in getting to work here, because with a few good seasons the Kaipara service will be worse instead of better, unless this section o,f Une is doubled,