PALMERSTON RAILWAY DEVIATION.

Manawatu Herald, Volume XLII, Issue 2141, 19 June 1920, Page 1

PALMERSTON RAILWAY DEVIATION.

At a meeting of the Palmerston Borough Council on Tuesday night, proposals-submitted by the Genera! Manager for Railways for deviation of the railway line so as to leave the present line near Lonburn and junction again at the northern side of Terrace End. A letter was received from the General Manager {Mr MTilly) stating that the existing accommodation is quite inadequate to meet satisfactorily the requirements of the present traffic and business now being carried on ,at very great inconvenience and under many disadvantages to the public and the Department alike. Owing to the restricted area of the yard and its situation in the heart of the town, it was impracticable to carry out improvements and provide the accommodation essentially necessary to meet the requirements of prospective traffic in the near future, and the Manager stated that he

was firmly convinced that the only satisfactory solution of the difficulty was the deviation of the railway line near Longhufri .Junction to West Boundary road, and the construction of a new and up-to-date station on a site approximately between Kairauga and Kangitikci roads. This would do away with all level crossings, as the scheme provided for over-bridges for road traffic on the main arterial roads leading into Palmerston. The removal of the present running lines, between Longbarn and Terrace End would enable the main thoroughfare to be widened and give residents on the west .side of the Palmerston-Longburn road direct access to the Alain road. Air M’Villy slated that during the last 29 years the passenger business at Palmerston North had increased 390 per cent., outward live stock business (599 per cent., timber traffic 490 per cent., other goods 299 per cent., revenue (599 per cent. Also there were large increases in inward business during the same period. During the last live years outward traffic increased by 299 per cent. The number of railway vehicles handled at Palmerston daily was between 1,590 and 2,999, exclusive of through trains. The council unanimously decided to support the proposal to remove the railway station to the northern part of the town; such proposal to include an up-to-date station and yards, also a (lag station in the vicinity of . Vogel Street, and bridges over level crossings. The proposed new station will he approximately a mile and a-quarter from the Square.