E—3

XIII

Sheffield to Waianiwaniwa. This would be merely a connecting link between two short branch lines. It would pass over difficult country, and we see nothing to recommend it. Oxford to Sheffield. This connecting line would supply the railway system north of Kaiapoi, as well as the inhabitants of North Canterbury, with cheap coal. The bridges are already built, as well as the stations at each end, and the train-mileage and maintenance would be the only additions to the existing expenses of the Railway Department. We recommend the early completion of this section; but we offer our suggestion that the junction with the Springfield line should be at Sheffield, and not at Waddington, in case the abandonment of the Interior Main Line should be determined upon in accordance with the recommendation contained in this report. COALGATE TO TeMTTKA. This railway is generally known as the Canterbury Interior Main Line. Its construction would entail very heavy expenditure in bridging the Selwyn, the Rakaia, four branches of the Ashburton, the Hinds, the Rangitata, the Orari, and some minor streams. The traffic over it would, in our opinion, be small in proportion to the cost of the work, and the districts through which it would pass are already to a great extent served by the existing branch lines. Any further development of those districts would, we are convinced, be more economically and more efficiently promoted by the formation of additional branch lines and the extension of existing ones as the expenditure becomes warranted by the progress of settlement in the back country. Orari to Kakahu. This district generally is within reasonable distance from the main line, and it does not appear to us that additional railway facilities are required at present. Sheffield to Hawkins. This small branch, amounting to little more than a siding, is proposed as a means of opening up a coal mine and pottery works. We recommend that it be constructed upon the terms usually imposed for the accommodation of a siding, but with the condition that all excess over the usual cost of a siding be paid by the proprietors of the mine. DUNTROON TO HakATERAMEA. The extension of this line to a point on the bank of the Waitaki opposite to the entrance of the Hakateramea Valley will be inexpensive, and is desirable in view of the facts that it will serve the large agricultural district in that valley, and will also receive the traffic of the Upper Waitaki. We recommend that, if this line is not completed in the meantime under the District Railways Act, the Government should, when further funds are available, endeavour to obtain possession of it and finish its construction. We further advise that the w Torks already in progress on the short section of fifty chains between the present terminus and the Village of Duntroon be completed. Windsor to Livingston. The completion of the ten miles beyond Windsor now in hand will meet the present requirements of the district; and we think that the remaining four miles should not be proceeded with until a reliable survey has been made to determine whether it is practicable to extend the line to Naseby, as, should it prove to be so, it might be desirable to take the required rise from the terminus of the tenmile section. Palmerston to Waihemo. Three miles of this branch are already completed, and we advise that the line should be continued to the most convenient point near to, but eastward of, Jordan's. There is at present a large traffic by wagon to the interior by this route, and a considerable agricultural population is settled in the Waihemo Valley.