THE MINISTER OF RAILWAYS.

Pukekohe & Waiuku Times, Volume 5, Issue 225, 10 November 1916, Page 2

THE MINISTER OF RAILWAYS.

At Pukekohe.

Various Matters Discussed.

Following on his visit to Tuakau earlier in the day, as reported in our last issue, the Minister of Bailways (the Hon. W. H. Herries, MP.) arrived in Pukekohe at 12.45 p.m. on Tueeday in accordance with his arrangement with the Pukekohe Chamber of Commerce. Mr Herries, who was accompanied by Mr K. F. Bollard, M.P. for Raglan, and by Mr Balneavis (Private Secretary) was met at the station by the Mayor (Mr H. 0. B Mason), Mr H. Pell (President of the Chamber of Commerce), and by some 20 members of the Chamber. The party were conveyed by motor-cars, kindly lent by Mr Sam. Mills and Mr Ivan Motion, to the Pukekohe Hotel, where the visitors were entertained at luncheon, an excellent repast being served by Host Clarke. Subsequent to the luncheon, the speakers deputed to submit various requests to the Minister were formally " received " by Mr Herries on introduction by Mr Bollard. STOrPISG THE EXPRESSES. An application for one or other of the Main Trunk express trains to stop every day at Pukekohe was submitted to the Minister by Mr J. P. Asher, who pointed out that with the exception that a mixed passenger goods train in the morning to Auckland had been accelerated in its running, and that the expresses stopped on Sundays, there was no improvement in the present local railway service as compared with that of ten or more years ago. Mr Massey, he said, had practically promised, prior to the institution of the trains kntwn as the'second expresses, that either the day or night expresses would call at Pukekohe, but such had not been given effect to. Buckland, only two miles away from Pukekohe, was, he mentioned, the crossing place of the "second" expresses, which meant that one or other had to wait there, so he thought they could reasonably suggest that such trains might cross at Pukekohe instead of at Buckland, although their preference was for the night train to Wellington and the morning train to Auckland to be the trains to be stopped. The reason for such preference, he explained, was that by that means a great improvement would be brought about in the postal service, as under present conditions their last mail both to the north and to the south closed at 5 p.m., and inward letters were not sorted until 9.45 a.m., and that in a town only 30 miles distant from Auckland. He suggested that co-operation on the part of both the Bailway and Postal Departments was desirable and was warranted by the progress the district was making. The somewhat singular fact prevailed that although the Prime Minister's electorate wa& one of the most important constituencies in the Dominion, the express trains made no call at any place in the electorate, and for that reason they claimed that Pukekohe, as the centre of the Franklin electorate, should receive attention. Previous requests, he added, had been turned down by reason of the excuse being given that if acceded to there would be similar applications from other towns. On that score he desired to point out tha* outside the suburban uea there was no town between Auckland and Wellington equal in size or population to Pukekohe, with the exception of Huntly, whose residents were not a travelling public, at which one or other of the Main Trunk expresses did not stop, whereas some of the stops were made at places much smaller than Pukekohe, such as Te Awamutu, Mangaweka and Hunterville. Mr Asher went on to say that the Department's previous contention was also that there would be dis-organisation in the existing time-table if Pukekohe was made a stopping place, but singularly enough the trains without being dis-organised in their running called at Pukekohe on Sundays and also on other special occasions, whilst in addition the completion of the grade easement works between Pukekohe and Paerata was calculated, if taken advantage of, to save at least live minutes in the running between Auckland and Pukekohe, with further reductions in time as the works progressed. In conclusion, Mr Asher suggested that with an extra evening train to run on the suburban service to and from Auckland and Papakura the 4.25 p.m. and 5,45 p.m. trains from Auckland to the Waikato and the 6.7 pm. tram from Pukekohe to Auckland might be speeded up by not calling at some of the smaller suburban stations. Mr B, F. Webster brieily supported Mr Asher's remarks. GOODS-SH«1) ACCOMMODATION. Mr F. Perkins, as one of the traders of the town, put forward a request for the goods shed to be enlarged and a verandah covering to be e'ected on the side of the shed as a protection against bad weather to goods being delivered, and, further, he applied for a stationary crane to be installed in the shed for the discharge of heavy goods, the present travelling crane being almost useless for the purpose. Mr Perkins quoted figures in proof of the growth of the outward and inward good traffic in I Pukekohe, and mentioned that in his own business a few years ago he only paid £4CO per annum in freightage, whereas now his freightaccount was from £2OOO to £3OOO per annum. He also stated that something like one-quarter of a million bags of potatoes and onions were consigned away from Pukekohe every season. Pukekohe station, he added, was the goods centre for no less than 16 townships in the district. PERISHABLE 0001JS DELAYEU. The existing delays that occur in the transit of perishable goods to Pukekohe was brought under the Minister's notice by Messrs J. T. Stembridge and O. Heerdegen, who pointed out that fruit consigned from Henderson took three days before it wan delivered in Pukekohe. Mr TTeordegen fnrtlipr mentioned that fl rase of fruit ronsigned from Auckland the previous day had up to that time not reached Pukekohe.

The Minister humorously remarked that the remedy was i»vm Pukekobe to grow its own fruit gf* but Mr Perkins retorted that land in Pukekobe was too valuable for fruit growing, potatoes, onions and butter paying better. THE STATION APPROACH. The matter of the Department securing sufficient land to form an approach road to the station in lieu of the present road which would be

utilised for the track when the line was duplicated, was urged by the Mayor (Mr H. Q. B. Mason) and Cr Ivan Motion, who considered it unfair that the Borough Council should be saddled, as had been suggested, with the cost of the purchase of the necessary land. FKOrOSED SUBWAY FOE STOCK. Mr C. K. lawrie, president of the Franklin A and P. Association, made application for the construction of a subway at the south end of the railway yard, to be used for the transfer of stock from one side of the line to the other so as to avoid the necessity of cattle passing over the public bridge as now. Such subway, he said, would not only be used for animals proceeding to and from the showground, but as a route for all stock passing through the town. —The site of the proposed subway was subsequently viewed by Mr Hemes, the deputation being joined for the purpose by Messrs D.

R. Hamilton and J as. Wylie, mem- ', bers of the Association's Executive.

MR HERRIES' REPLY.

Mr Herries, replying to the speakers, first thanked the Chamber of Commerce and the residents of the town for the warm welcome that had been given him and for their hospitality at luncheon. Coming there, meeting the residents and viewing the district for himself gave him a good impression of Pukekohe. He would have liked to have been able to have complied with all the requests that had been made to him. As regards the stopping of the main trunk expresses, the plea of the through passengers was that all stops should be cut out except for watering purposes or at the larger towns, and with local applications for the trains to stop a Minister of Railways was between two stools. He, however, wanted to act fairly to all the different places on the line, and the representations that had been made to him would have his careful consideration. He was aware that the concession given on Sundays had been appreciated and had justified itself. The whole question of the running of the trains would be dealt with when the grade easement works were completely finished, particularly as the recent census showed great growth on the part of several towns in the North Island. Referring to the goods-shed accommodation, Mr Herries promised that the matter would be carefully looked into, and he recognised that a verandah was advisable and that the existing crane apparatus was out of date. He reminded the deputation, however, that the Minister for Finance limited him in expenditure. As regards the transit of perishable goods he was glad that his attention had been called to the same, as it was only by a personal visit he got to know of such deficiencies and he would certainly enquire into the causes of the delays. Mr Herries further promised to give consideration to the subjects of the approach road to th ) station and of the proposed subway for use by stock. In conclusion, the Minister again thanked those present for the cordial greeting given him, and once more remarked that if he could see his way to meet their requests he would be only too glad to do so. On the conclusion of the speeches Mr Herries was motored over and around Pukekohe Hill in Mr Sam Mills' Daimler car. The Minister expressed great admiration at the charming view of the surrounding country that met his gaze and he also favourably commented on the marked productivity of the local lands Mr Herries returned to Auckland by the Rotorua express and was given a most cordial sendoff at the station