NEW RAILWAY.
STRATFORD MAIN TRUNK. MATTERS SECTION OPENED. ACCESS FOR BACKBLOOKS. a.-.,; 3 By Telegraph.—Press Association. Matiere, Last Night. The first Public Works passenger train ran from Okahukura to Matiere to-day in connection with the morning train from Taumarunui, and it marked the completion of the first section of the east end of the Stratford-Main Trunk line. The first sod was turned ,at the Stratford end in March, 1901, by Sir William Hall-Jones, and the first sod was turned at Taumarunui in November, 1911, by Sir Joseph Ward. The line was first completed at the Stratford end for forty-seven miles to Tali ora, and the section now completed at the Taumarunui end is ten miles from the Main Trunk line at Okahukura to Matiere.
The connecting link between Matiere and Tahora is thirty-one miles. The Hon. J. G. Coates, in his last Public Works Statement, hoped the line would reach Ohura within twelve months. When that is completed an hour’s run in a motor car will temporarily connect the ends of the line and give through passage from New Plymouth to Auckland. Settlers in the Ohura and Matiere have waited twenty years for the railway, contending with bad roads without metal.
The early completion of this section since Mr. Coates became Minister is due to the concentration of men at this end, with the object of opening up rich and well-developed country. To do this expeditiously temporary bridges were erected while the permanent work was proceeding. Ballasting is completed over more than half the line, and a temporary station is erected at Matiere. The first part of the journey for about two miles from the Main Trunk is through a tunnel nearly a mile in length, and after that there are four shorter tunnels to Matiere. The train held about four hundred passengers in open trucks, and the journey was safely made in two hours, the train arriving at 12.35. A large crowd waiting at Matiere welcomed the train. Mr. W. T. Jennings. M.P., welcomed Mr. Coates to the district, and the Minister then declared the line open, mentioning that it had cost approximately £33,000 per mile. •
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Taranaki Daily News, 24 May 1922, Page 5
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357NEW RAILWAY. Taranaki Daily News, 24 May 1922, Page 5
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