OUR RAILWAYS.

Manawatu Herald, Volume XXXVI, Issue 1293, 5 September 1914, Page 3

OUR RAILWAYS.

MANAGER HILEY’S REPORT. Wellington, Sept, 3. The report on the railways of the Dominion by Mr E. H. Hiley, the new General Manager, was laid on the table of the House to-night. The conclusion arrived at is that the system has outgrown the present organisation and the rapid growth of the system and expansion of business has rendered the machinery for traffic control unequal to the demands put upon it by existing circumstances. The staff requires to be strengthened and the staff arrangement to be remodeled, particularly in the traffic branches. The Department is short of engine power and rolling stock for dealing promptly with business now offering. Terminal accommodation is inadequate and a forward policy is necessary in regard to the duplication of congested suburban lines, regrading main lines, strengthening bridges, and additional signalling equipment, if traffic is to be fostered and handled economically, safely and expeditiously. The appointment of a commercial agent to develop new revenue-producing business is strongly urged. A new timetable will shorten the journey between Auckland and Wellington by .1 hour and 25 minutes, between Wellington and Napier by 64 minutes, and between Wellington and New Plymouth by 30 minutes. The South Island time table is practically unaltered. The total proposals involve an expenditure of .£3,250,000, spread over five years. Mr Hiley states that the report was drafted before the outbreak of war, but it has not been altered, as the necessities have not been removed, but rather intensified by the abnormal conditions now prevailing. Amongst the allocations for new stations are ; Palmerston £40,000, Hastings £40,000, Timaru ,£40,000. Grade easements: Palmerston-Marton £50,000, duplication Lyttelton tunnel £125,000. The report states that the permanent way, bridges, and other structures connected therewith are in excellent condition. The cost of maintenance per mile is high, but inspection of the track shows that the money has been wisely spent. On the subject of construction of new railways the report proceeds : “I believe I am correct in stating there are over twenty new railways in course of construction at the present time, I submit that this is hot an economical method of procedure. It must be obvious that if the work of construction was concentrated upon, say, five of those railways, the cost of supervision would be lower, and the speed at which the railways would be finished and become traffic-bearing and re-venue-earning would be at least four times as rapid. Over twenty uncompleted and unremuuerative railways are a serious handicap to a comparatively small undertaking.”