Manawatu Evening Standard. FRIDAY, JULY 2, 1937. THE RAILWAY DEVIATION

Manawatu Standard, Volume LVII, Issue 181, 2 July 1937, Page 6

Manawatu Evening Standard. FRIDAY, JULY 2, 1937. THE RAILWAY DEVIATION

It lias been almost an open secret for a while past that an announcement favourable to the resumption of work on the railway deviation at Palmerston North would be made by the Minister for Itailways at no distant date. Some time ago the Government called for reports from the Department's officers on the facilities at this centre for the handling of railway traffic, and now comes the announcement that the sum of £190,000 is to be spent on the deviation during the current financial year. The allocation of such a large sum must imply, without a doubt, that the work stopped in 1920 will now proceed to its conclusion. Although the public must await a complete statement, the present intimation is of the greatest importance to the city and district. It will be recalled that after the Government led by the late Sir Joseph Ward was elected in 1928 close consideration was given To railway works commenced during the Reform regime, and to the policy of the new Administration. Consequent upon an examination early in 1929, Sir Joseph Ward decided that the deviation works here should be closed down, but new and very costly undertakings were set iu train, two being the South Island Main Trunk Line amt ihe Last Coast railway, which were terminated in accordance with the recommendations of the Railway Board in September, 1931, and resumed by the Labour Government five years later. In its consideration of the Palmerston North deviation the Government had one or two alternatives to consider —to bridge the large number of crossings the railway passes over in the city, or to construct an underground line to eliminate traffic from Main Street. The former would have been an unsightly and cumbersome system of meeting the situation, and the latter could only be a costly, ami probably in the final analysis no definite solution. Again, neither alternative suggests that relief, urgently required, would be given to shunting congestion, and that provision would be available for greater platform facilities. That the Government now intends, as it apparently must from the Minister’s statement, to take up the work which ceased in 1929 indicates that no solution of the difficulties, which have long been apparent in the present yards, exists other than in the completion of the Milson station and yards. The city’s marked progress must undoubtedly have contributed largely to this decision. When completed the new station will not be distant much more than a mile from the centre of the Square, and it will be close to the Milson aerodrome which will become the Croydon of New Zea-

land. Indecision in the matter has also delayed the intentions of industrial enterprise to become established in the most central city of this island, and once convinced that the work will proceed they can complete their plans. A railway station and yards commensurate with the needs of the most important railway centre in New Zealand have long since become an urgent necessity, and the public will realise the importance of the decision made.