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Railway Progress in New Zealand.
General Manager's Message.

If ever there was an occasion for great public rejoicing over railway progress in New Zealand, the opening of the new station at Wellington on the 19th June was surely one of the most outstanding in the seventy years existence of the system. This magnificent central depot of our Railways has been very thoroughly and extensively described and pictured both in the general press of the Dominion and in various issues of this Magazine. Thus there is no need for me here either to describe the building or to point to the infinite variety of ways in which it will serve both the public and the railway organisation in the days to come. But I do wish to draw public attention to the problems with which the members of the staff were confronted in effecting the change-over to the new station, and the magnificent manner in which all the initial difficulties of operation were overcome without accident or break-down of any kind, and with no more than some slight inevitable delay to certain trains on the first day of full operation.

Not only had the whole two-station system, which had grown up over a period of fifty years, to be converted to a one-station system literally overnight, but, owing to the conformation of the old yards and station layout and the practical limitations of time and space, only one access could at this stage be provided from the Locomotive depot and for car shunting purposes for the first week's operation of the new station. The other lines of access had to be provided through the ground occupied by the old Thorndon station which again, in order to maintain unbroken timetables, had to be worked up to within two minutes of the departure of the first train from the new station. In the circumstances, all concerned in the work associated with the actual translation from the old stations to the new, did remarkably good work, and I wish to express, by means of this message, my very real appreciation of the way in which every detail of the job was planned and executed and the train and shunting movements carried out.

Now that the new station has become a living organism in the transport system of the Dominion, every railwayman should appreciate the fine facilities it provides for the performance of their work and social activities, and should take a pride in its cleanliness and appearance and comprehensive efficiency as their principal station, and headquarters of the nationally important business upon which they are engaged.

General Manager.