RAILWAY COMMISSION.

Taranaki Daily News, 8 October 1919, Page 4

RAILWAY COMMISSION.

POSITION IN SOUTH ISLAND. By Telegraph.—Press Association. Christchurch, Last Night. The Railway Commission sat, here this afternoon. George Edward Richardson, engineer In charge of the locomotive department in the South Island for the laßt four years, said that in July of this year the rolling stock was in good order, and that no complaints had been made by the public or anybody else in the matter of repairs. He had had no difficulty since July in obtaining material for repairs. At one time the Department constructed rolling stock on a large scale, but there was now a falling-off. During the last four years no officer had reported adversely on the rolling stock. The condition of the rolling stock was not the cause of the recent train curtailment. The short supply of coal was the cause. There was only five days' Bupply of coal in Christchurch at the time of the curtailment.

To Mr. Marchbanks: They had sufficient skilled workmen to carry out ail the repair work, They used.Wairio and Waronui coal. The engines steamed all right with Nightcaps coal, Bequests were made for cqal, but none was forthcoming.

To Mr. Hunt: Repairs had been carried out at Addington during the war. Eleven new locomotives had been built there, and 37 at Hillside (Dunedin).

Henry George Brooks, workshop?' manager at Hillside, said that in July the rolling stock was in good order, and since then just a normal amount of repair work had been carried out. The rolling' stock had nothing to do with the railway curtailment! Similar evidence was given by other responsible officera of the Department.