D.—l

VII

section between Broken Eiver and the Cass, 15 m. 22 eh. in length, was opened for traffic in December last, and a further section eleven miles long is approaching completion and is expected to be ready for traffic about the end of the current financial year. This section includes the bridges over the Cass and Waimakariri Rivers, and will carry the line up to the Bealey Valley, and reduce the distance which will have to be travelled by coach between the railheads to about fifteen miles. The expenditure on the different sections of the Midland Railway during the year was as under :— Nelson end ... ... ... ... ... ... . 23,861 Eeetton end ... ... ... ... ... . ... 15,675 Otira-Bealey... ... ... ... ... ... ... 73,179 Broken Eiver-Bealey... ... ... ... . ... 38,913 Total ... ... ... . . ... ... £151,628 For the current year the following appropriations are proposed: — Nelson end ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 35,000 Eeefton end ... ... ... ... .. ... ... 20,000 Otira-Bealey... ... ... ... . ... 90,000 Broken Eiver-Bealey... ... ... ... ... ... 50,000 Total £195,000 W kstport-Inanuaiiua. The first section of this railway between Westport and Te Kuha, 5 m. 74 eh., is finished, except the station-buildings, which are well in hand. On the completion of these buildings the section will be handed over to the Railway Department for regular working. Beyond Te Kuba the work is in progress for rather more than three miles, partly on the co-operative system and partly under small contracts let by public tender. The work is making ver} 7 satisfactory progress, and it will be necessary to ask this year for the authorization of a further section of the railway, and provision will be made for this in the Railways Authorization Bill. The expenditure last year was £18,557, and for the current year a vote of £30,000 is asked for. Ngahere-Blackball . 'I'his railway has been open for traffic for some time, but a good deal of work was done upon it last year, the expenditure having amounted to over £11,000. A few completion-works remained to be executed on :*lst March last, and a small vote of £2,000 to provide for these is included in the estimates. Gbeymouth - Point Elizabeth. The main line of this railway is complete with the exception of the centre rail, but some little work yet remains to be done on the back-shunt at the end of the line, where extensive slips have occurred. The whole railway will, however, be in working-order by the time the new State mine is in a position to put out coal. The expenditure last year amounted to £47,081, and for the current year a vote of £25,000 is asked for, and will be sufficient to complete the line. Ross-Mikonui. The local authorities in the Westland District—including the County Council, the Kumara, Hokitika, and Ross Borough Councils, the Hokitika Harbour Board, and the South Westland Railway League—have for sometime past asked for an extension of the railway from Ross to Waitaha, and the Government, after carefully considering the matter, proposes to undertake the first section of the line —namely, as far as Mikonui, a distance of about four miles. Formal authority for the construction of the line will be asked for in the Railways Authorization Bill, and a vote of £5,000 on account of the cost is