“ANOTHER BROKEN PLEDGE”

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 875, 20 January 1930, Page 14

“ANOTHER BROKEN PLEDGE”

Morningside Tunnel Scheme AUCKLAND MEN’S OPINIONS THE announcement by the Minister of Railways, the Hon. W. B. Taverner, that the Government had definitely decided to abandon the construction of the Morningside tunnel, a decision that was forecast by THE SUN some months ago, has created considerable dissatisfaction in the City. The need for encouraging suburban development by the provision of efficient transport facilities, and the benefit that would result to the City from the shortening of the northern line into the City, is stressed in the following interviews. By one business man the abandonment of the scheme is referred to as “another of the Government’s many broken pledges.”

In announcing the Government’s reasons for abandoning the tunnel, the Hon. W. B. Taverner, as reported in The Sun on Saturday, said the work would entail an expenditure of £2,174,570, and that the construction of a double-track tunnel under the City would involve considerable engineering difficulties and possible danger to buildings under which tlicline ran. He did not think that much saving in goods haulage would result, and that much passenger and goods traffic would still have to be carried on between Morningside and Newmarket. The grade of the tunnel would make it necessary to electrify the tunnel. This would lead to still further expense in the electrification of the whole Auckland suburban system, and the Northern electrification would have to be carried as far as Helensville. Further electrically equipped rolling stock would also have to be provided to cope with the traffic in rush hours. The Minister also stated that the daily average of passengers to the North, including the suburban areas, was 4,720. As far as goods were concerned, the haulage costs through the tunnel would not mean a saving to the department, and the present traffic, which did not show any increase, did not warrant the expenditure of large sums of money as would be necessary if the tunnel were proceeded with. “There is no doubt that people want to live in the suburban areas, but the lack of efficient transport is keeping them in the City. The result of this,” said Mr. C. F. Gardner, Mayor of Mew Lynn, “is a tendency toward building flats and creating slum areas.” He did not think that the objection to the Morningside scheme came so much from the department as from the Government. It seemed that in every possible way objections were being raised against the scheme. For the past 15 years, said Mr. Gardner, the Western suburbs had been entitled to much better transport, and he thought the time had come when the department should either meet the growing requirements of the outer areas or leave the provision of the transport requirements to those who were prepared to give proper service. Transport was the first question that prospective suburban dwellers went into, and a good indication of the present suburban services was tte fact that in the outer areas served by the railway, building had decreased by about 45 per cent., while the City figures remained about the same. The resulting tendency was for suburban land values to drop, and this also affected City values. There was no doubt that, given good transport facilities, the suburban population and traffic would increase considerably. But the department made little attempt to anticipate this increase. Mr. Gardner mentioned that several months ago the department, as a result of pressure brought to bear on it, put on a certain train for a three months’ trial. It started off with two cars, and in a few weeks had put on six cars, and the train was still running. DrFFICULTIES MAGNIFIED

Mr. Gardner ' also instanced the North Shore development. The Devonport Steam Ferry Company had built up a service and provided facilities in anticipation of increased traffic and the result today was an excellent service profitably run. At great expense to the local bodies concerned concrete roads were put down in the western suburbs and the consequent inauguration of bus services as reflected in the growth of population in previously neglected districts. In New Lynn, for instance, the population from 1920 to 1926 increased by 83 per cent. Then came the Motor Omnibus Act, which greatly interfered with the bus services, and caused falling off in property values. loss of population, and damage to confidence in the area. If the district was to be catered for efficiently there must be a station in the vicinity of the Town Hall, which would give access to both northern and southern lines, instead of the present station which, placed on the outer fringe of the city, was suitable enough for long distance traffic, but absolutely unsuitable for the suburban dweller. Mr. Gardner was also of the opinion that the engineering difficulties had been considerably magnified. The Minister complained that it would be difficult and dangerous to construct a tunnel under big buildings, but the route shown on the railway reports did not go under heavy buildiDgs. The area it went under consisted mostly of parks and slum areas. The present line was quite absurd, he remarked. It was a long roundabout way over a heavy grade. Mount Eden was 227 ft above Auckland Station, and Morningside, which was only a mile and a-quarter away, was 110 ft lower. Then there was a ridiculous shunt back at Newmarket, which was the cause of irritating delay. Under the Morningside scheme two miles of travel would be saved and the grades would be much improved. The experience of the big cities of the world, and London in particular, showed that for distances up to about thirty miles railways couid handle peak hour suburban traffic more efficiently than any other method. It was a popular method of transport, and he was sure that in Auckland its adoption under the Morningside scheme would result in thousands of City workers making their homes in the outer areas.

“If you want to rear healthy children under good living conditions cater for suburban transport,” said Mr. Gardner. “The continuation of this neglect of suburban transport must

only result in the development of slum areas and its attendant evils.” THOUGHT IT V/AS ASSURED “With the Arapuni scheme nearing completion it seems a pity that the Government has abandoned its intention to go on with the tunnel scheme,” said Mr. W. J. Holdsworth, chairman of the Auckland Power Board. “In Australia the electrification of suburban lines has proved a great success, and I think the provision of quick and cheap transport on the northern line would have brought about largely increased settlement in the outlying areas.” The time is arriving when the City workers will have to go further out, said Mr. Holdsworth, and cheap and efficient transport is essential. There was a lot of land available on the Northern line that was suitable for close settlement, and he thought the electrification of the line would bave resulted in largely increased population in the areas served by the line. Although not incuring any liabilities or making any provision for the work, the board was always under the impression that the tunnel scheme would be gone on with, said Mr. Holdsworth. They understood that one of the main ideas behind the Arapuni power scheme was the ultimate electrification of the suburban lines in order to keep pace with such development in other parts of the world, if this was the United States the Main Trunk line would already have been electrified, he remarked. “We thought it was assured and that it was only a question of waiting for a suitable time before making a start with the work, and there could be no more suitable a time than at the present, when there were so many unemployed. “The Government was spending huge sums on relief works that did not provide an adequate return and here was a scheme that would not only give a big return but would result in considerable expansion of the city.” “When people contemplated settling in the outer area, transport was the first consideration. The present railway transport on the northern line was certainly very inconvenient, but an electrified line under the tunnel scheme would be quick, clean and cheap.”

TRAMS TO AVONDALE CABINET’S DECISION CLEARS THE AIR TRANSPORT BOARD ACTIVE “Now that the Government has definitely decided its policy in connection with the Morningside tunnel, the matter will be brought under the notice of the Auckland Transport Board at its first meeting, and no doubt a decision will be reached at an early date regarding the Avondale tram extension,” said Mr. G. Baildon, deputychairman of the board, when asked to comment on the Government’s decision. The decision was important to the board, Mr. Baildon said. It had to provide transport for Avondale and until the Government had been able to decide its intentions the board could not proceed with any scheme to provide transport. The board took the matter up when considering the tramway extensions to the various districts, and on February 28, 1929, the board made application to the Local Government Loans Board to sanction the extension from the Mount Albert tramway terminus, via the New North Road to Avondale. The Local Government Loans Board deferred consideration of this extension because it desired the board to make further inquiries from the Railway Department regarding the proposal to construct the Morningside tunnel, the deputy-chairman continued. As recently as November 26 last, a petition, signed by 1,690 residents of the district, waited on the board and petitioned for the immediate construction of the tramway between Mount Albert and Avondale. They felt that even if the tunnel were constructed a very large number of passengers residing between Mount Albert terminus and the Avondale railway bridge would not be adequately served by the railway. The Loans Board was advised o£ the petition, and at its meeting on January 11 deferred consideration of the approval of the loan for the extension until its next meeting. “WE ARE DISGUSTED” NEWTON BUSINESS MEN ARE ANGERED WILL MAKE PROTEST Not only are Karangahape Road business men disappointed with the Government's decision to abandon the Morningside tunnel scheme—they are disgusted. Mr. M. J. Bennett, president of the Karangahape Road Business Promotion Society, said as much this morning. “We regard this announcement as one of the United Party’s many broken pledges,” Mr. Bennett declared. He intends to call his colleagues together shortly, and a strong protest will be made. Mr. Bennett said his society had always regarded the tunnel as part

and parcel of the eastern outlet; scheme originated by the Coates Government, part of which was now under construction in the form of the Auckland - Westfield deviation. He characterised the Minister of Railways’s statement about the electrification of suburban lines as unfair. “What does he mean by tacking on the cost of electrification of all suburban lines to the cost of the Morningside deviation?” he demanded. Mr. Bennett said his society had been working for years to have the deviation undertaken, and now this had punched him and his colleagues in both eyes. . . . Words failed Mr. Bennett. RETARDING DEVELOPMENT ABANDONMENT OF TUNNEL SCHEME POWER BOARD OPINION The development of the Waitemata Power Board’s district beyond New Lynn will bo seriously retarded from both a settlement and electrical standpoint by the Government’s decision not to proceed with the Morningside tunnel scheme. This opinion was expressed by Mr. J. W. Hayden, chairman of the board. He strongly favoured the construction of the tunnel, which he considered would materially assist in extending tho electrification of that district. There were thousands of acres of land beyond [New Lynn waiting to be opened up, he said, and a stimulus in this direction would certainly be given by the provision, of fast railway transpoi't. He pointed out that before the Reform Government had interfered with the bus transport to New Lynn and townships beyond, the board had scarcely been able to cope with the demand for extensions, but since then there had practically been no settlement or requisition for power. Another illustration of the lack of adequate transport facilities, he said, was the fact that there were now 80 empty dwellings in New Lynn. He felt confident that if the Government provided a good service in this direction a marked fillip would be given to settlement of districts all along the line from New Lynn to Helensville, and this would b© reflected in increased demand for electricity. Mr. Hayden was asked whether the board had taken any action to plan out a system of transformer stations in preparation for the electrification of suburban lines, but he replied that nothing had yet been done. He added that with the board’s station at Henderson there would be no difficulty in supplying as much current as required for electrified railway service. t