The Stratford Evening Post. WITH WHICH IS INCORPORATED THE EGMONT SETTLER. FRIDAY, APRIL 11, 1913. A RAILWAY JUNCTION.

Stratford Evening Post, Volume XXXV, Issue 80, 11 April 1913, Page 4

The Stratford Evening Post. WITH WHICH IS INCORPORATED THE EGMONT SETTLER. FRIDAY, APRIL 11, 1913. A RAILWAY JUNCTION.

A railway junction, while being a matter of very considerable importance in the projected construction of a railway line, is also of vital interest to any town in which a junction is determined upon. In the case of Stratford, the fact of the Main Trunk line junctioning here must of necessity benefit our town as a commercial centre. It is probably within the knowledge of residents of Stratford and district that the line from Taranaki connecting with the Main,Trunk line was in the first place surveyed and the laud reserved for a considerable distance at a point a little north of Eltham, but subsequently it was deemed advisable to make the junction further north, at Stratford. Stratford has always been recognised as the town representing the very heart of Taranaki, and no doubt this fact combined with other advantages settled the question of where the Main Trunk line should junction at this end. There has been a marked propensity in Taranaki in altering junctions from the point apparently definitely decided upon, but there can be little doubt that the ultimate decision in making alterations in this direction has been arrived at only after a very careful reconsideration of the position. Although the proposed Opunake line was surveyed and the land reserved for the purpose almost in a direct line from Eltham to Opunake, this route was rejected by the Taranaki Western Railway Commissioners with a recommendation that the land reserved for the railway should be sold. The Commissioners, in rejecting the so-called “reserve route,” decided upon a line running parallel with the rejected route, a little further south, and with this decision there would appear to be almost unanimous agreement, from all sides, that this route serves the settlers on the Plains best. So far so good, but the question of where this line should junction with the main line is just as much of material importance as the desideratum of having the district properly and adequately served to relieve the roads of the heavy traffic they now carry. We entirely fail to see how it can la* reasonably argued that two junctions will ultimately be necessary when one will serve the purpose to the utmost limit required, and that junction at Stratford. 15y making the junction at Stratford and eliminating that portion of the line between TV Roti and Ka-

puni (about eight miles) the whole of the creameries and factories in the vicinity would be remarkably well served by the Stratford route together with the present main line, and

from a passenger point of view would be most desirable and con vem mt. When the Stratford-Tc Koura .line is' completed the passenger traffic to the* Main Trunk line will be very emi-i siderable via the Stratford Junction,; and without a doubt the settlers of the Plains would wish, when visiting the northern districts, to reach their destination as early as possible, by the most convenient route. With Te Roti as the junction passengers from the western district wouljd require to be landed at the junction at about seven-thirty in the morning to catch the mail train south or to continue on to Stratford, New Plymouth, or the intermediate stations. The mail train south reaches Te Roti some time after nine o’clock, and this would mean that passengers from the Plains would have to kick their heels at this junction for an hour-and-a-half wait-1 iug for their train. The convenience | of Stratford as a junction compared I to To Roti for passengers from the west, wishing to travel to the Main Trunk line, is manifest. This is a phase of the question that requires careful consideration, and the importance of it will he more accentuated as time goes by. If Te Roti was a centre in any sense of the word, instead of being as it undoubtedly is, “the land of nowhere,” we could understand its selection as a junction, and we can only conclude that this station was decided upon as being in a straight line with the most desirable portion of the line extending west from Kapuni. While Stratford as a town would greatly benefit by the Opunake line junctioning here, we hold that, viewing the whole position, the best interests of the provincial district would be served by the Government taking a strong stand, ignoring vested and capitalistic interests in the southern part of the district, and make the junction at the best possible point and where a very important junction already exists —that is at Stratford.