ESTIMATES EXCEEDED

Sun (Auckland), Volume IV, Issue 1067, 3 September 1930, Page 10

ESTIMATES EXCEEDED

SHOPS REORGANISATION COSTS NEARLY DOUBLE EFFECT ON RAILWAY REVENUE THE SUN’S Parliamentary Reporter WELLINGTON, Today. Reorganisation of the railway workshops in New Zealand, estimated in 1925 to cost £1,642,853, is now estimated to cost £2,297,865, or £601,865 in excess of the origThe Minister of Railways, the Hon. W. A. Veitch, in his statement presented to the House, that the reorganisation scheme, covering the four centres, is now practically complete. The original estimates in connection with the scheme have been considerably exceeded, and it is doubtful whether the annual savings contemplated will be effected. “It may be appropriate to furnish the following figures, which will indicate the position when I assumed control of the department,” continues the Minister. “On April 11, 1925, the Acting-Chief Mechanical Engineer recommended the construction of (1) loco workshops at Auckland costing £ 540,088, (2) oar and wagon shops at Lower Hutt £442,134, (3) car and wagon shops at Addington £269,571, (4) locomotive shops, Hillside, £391,060 —total, £1,642,853. “This estimate was afterward increased to £1,696,000, at which figure the scheme was approved. The final capital cost is now estimated at £2,297,865, or £601,865 in excess of the original estimate. “This will increase the strain upon the department’s finances and will necessitate economy in the conduct of operations in the shops. In his original estimate the ActingChief Mechanical Engineer intimated that an annual saving of £270,000 would result from the new scheme; but it has yet to be proved whether this measure of economy will accrue as a set-off against the heavy capital expenditure.”