The Gisborne Times PUBLISHED DAILY. MONDAY. JANUARY 17, 1927.

Gisborne Times, Volume LXV, Issue 10307, 17 January 1927, Page 4

The Gisborne Times PUBLISHED DAILY. MONDAY. JANUARY 17, 1927.

the CHSB O RXE-SOHTH RAILWAY. it will bo remembered that, prior to leaving the Dominion to attend the imperial Conference, the Prime Minister intimated that the question as to whether the Gisborne-W airoa i ailway should follow a coastal or inland route would be left to the new Minister for Public Works (the Hon Iv. S. Williams) to settle. On his part. Mr. Williams gave a definite assurance that he would deal with the matter purely on its merits and, with that object in view, he would institute further enquiries from various angles. Some three months 01 so have since passed by and the people of this district have heard nothing on the subject. It would, however, not be right to suggest that the Minister has proved inactive. The visit of inspection made last week by

Mr. Rodie, manager of the Commercial Branch of the Railways Department, indicates that Mr. YV illianis intends to secure as much information as possible concerning *the traffic prospects in respect of both the rival routes as well as all necessary data:, from his technical advisers, concerning the relative costs of construction and of maintenance. Such being the case, the public* should be highly gratified that more pains am now being taken to arrive at a rightful judgment. Well-known it is that the officials of the Public Works Department have striven hard in favor of a coastal route, their aim being, of course, to incorporate the bulk of the Waikokopu line, which, by itself, lias so little chance of proving a profitable venture, although what has been set forth is that the best policy to pursue in connection with the building of a new railway is to join two centres by the most direct route. It will, we think, he surprising if Mr. Rodie should agree that the adoption of such a principle would be satisfactory in the case under consideration. The aim of the Railways Department should be to impress upon the Government that every line, must produce a reasonable amount of revenue. On tho other hand, capital charges, operating costs, and maintenance charges also no doubt require to be taken into the reckoning. In short, it would never do to embark upon the most lengthy and most , costly route possible when constructing a new line simply to secure a somewhat higher volume of revenue than would otherwise be derived and without proper regard to

a fair ratio as between expenditure and revenue. But, in the ease to which reference is being made, the traffic prospects in connection with ‘a coastal route arc so slight that the Government would be justified in pro ceeding with an inland route, even if the latter were estimated to cost an appreciably higher amount than the former. As a matter of fact, a coastal route between Gisborne and Wairoa would, from the point of view of revenue producing, be a iailure. What has to be determined is, of course, this: whether there -would be sJiffiojent extra traffic on an in—[aiyJi route to justify the extra length a/d the extra cost of construction. jtt is widely believed in this district 'that such must be found to bo the position.