WIDER TRAMCARS

Sun (Auckland), Volume IV, Issue 933, 28 March 1930, Page 11

WIDER TRAMCARS

TRANSPORT BOARD POLICY 1 STARTED YEARS AGO i BETTER CLEARANCE AT POINTS But for the Auckland Transport Board’s policy of preparing for the future use of wider tramcars all or most of the important intersections throughout the city would have had to be widened suddenly. The last of the point intersections j are at present being completed. These ' are at the corner of Pitt Street and Karangahape Road, which is almost | finished, and the corner of Symonds Street and Wellesley Street, at present in progress. The wider tramcars will come into j use on Sunday when the new section to Point Chevalier is opened. Four, and perhaps five, of the new cars will be allotted to the new run. Before the Auckland tramways became the Transport Board the officials were preparing for the wider and more comfortable cars. Mr. A. F. Ford, general manager of the Auckland Transport Board, stated this morning that he has been preparing | for the wider cars for the past live or j six years. Every time the points at any section had to be renewed they j were given a wider clearance and a greater margin of safety. It is admitted that had this not been done the new and wider cars could not be used until the curves of the intersections had been widened. Mr. Ford stated this morning that since the curves had been widened and given a greater clearance there had been fewer derailments and that they had resulted in the better running* of the cars generally. BOARD PREPARED The present widening of the points ; does not mean that the board has had J to increase its expenditure. Points re- ! quire to be renewed periodically, as they tend to wear out more quickly than the ordinary straight rails. Some time ago the points at the intersections of both Queen Street and Customs Street, ancl Queen Street and Wellesley Street were renewed and widened at tho same time. Several other sets of points have been widened since with the result that the board was prepared for tho time when its new cars would come into operation. Even if the points in Symonds Street, opposite St. Paul’s Church, had nevt been widened they would have required to be renewed, as they were worn out. Thus the board is doing two jobs at once. All the new ears are six inches wider than the ones which are in use at present. This extra space has been devoted to increasing the width of the seats and the passage ways, which will make for greater comfort in travelling. On the present cars the passage ways are too narrow to accommodate the crowds during rush hours, with the result that harassed conductors have to struggle past strap-hangers and others and there is a general feeling of discomfort on the part of both passengers and officials. For the past six or seven years, Mr. Ford stated this morning, he had been contemplating tho installation of wiefer tramcars, but a start with widening the points was not made until two years later. This and other necessary arrangements had been slowly proceeded with and now tho final widening of the j last sets of points was being done to ! accommodate the wider vehicles, which should shortly be running on all the principal City and suburban lines. The board is also continuing its ! policy of removing tram poles from j the middle of the streets and placing J them along the footpaths. In some instances this was also necessary before the wider cars could be brought into operation. LAST TWO POLES Today the last two poles are being removed from that section of Karangahape Road between the intersection of Queen Street and Symonds Street. Four have been removed from Karangahape Road near the Reservoir; one has gone from Pitt Street and another has still to go. “Any poles which we can get out of I tho way we do as soon as possible,” j said Mr. Ford. This lias become the ■ general policy of the board as is proved jby the removal of the poles from Manukau Road and Parnell Road. On Sunday, when the extended tram service to Point, Chevalier comes into operation, the cars will run over that section of Hobson Street between Wellesley Street West and Victoria Street, which is not at present used by any cars. This will give a more frequent service along those sections which will be used by the Point Chevalier cars, including Karangahape Road, Pitt and Hobson Streets, and possibly Queen Street. The new service will be appreciated by all sections of the community living in the areas through which the cars will pass. Although only five of the wider cars are ready for use two others will be finished next week. After that the new cars will come out of the workshops periodically until the first 25 are completed. It is tho ultimate aim of the Transport Board to build 50 new and wider cars, but the second 25 will not be constructed for some time to come. Their construction will no doubt depend on the board’s revenue.