"LADIES ONLY"

Auckland Star, Volume XLVIII, Issue 246, 15 October 1917, Page 4

"LADIES ONLY"

i NEW CABS ON EXPRESS TRAINS SEVERAL RAILWAY INNOVATIONS. (By Telegraph.—Parliamentary Reporter.) WELLINGTON, this day. The Railway Department has decided to provide ou the long-distance mail trains special cars for ladies only. In the case of the North Island Main Trunkline the cars will carry a female attendant. The Department has been able to meet this need of the public through tbe discontinuance of the dining-cars placing at its disposal fifteen cars in the North Island and six in the South Island. This will enable special ladies' carriages to be provided, and also a generous extension of the sleeping-car accommodation. One of the first of the ladies' carriages was shown to your correspondent in Wellington. It resembles the usual type of main line carriage in its passenger I accommodation, but a larger space than usual is set aside in the centre for an attendant's cabin, and roomy lavatory accommodation, with an ample supply of mirrors. "Ladies Only" is the announcement at each end of the coach, while at the centre the doors are to be locked except to the attendant. The idea oi this arrangement is to prevent the exasperating habit of some passengers who wander through the train when others wish to sleep. In the attendant's compartment is a gas ring, which mothers will find handy in providing hot drinks for young children. One end of the car is devoted to second-class and the other to first-class passengers, who will have separate lavatory accommodation. No extra charge is to be made for the use of these carrinses. The Railway Department has decided to provide a woman attendant during the night running of the Auckland expresses, and it believes that this will give parents and guardians more confidence when sending children unattended on long journeys. As quickly as the diningcars can be converted to their new purl pose they will be placed on the Napier and Now Plymouth mail trains and the through expresses between Christchurch ami Dunedin. Some of the old dining-cars are to be converted into two-berth sleepers for the North Island Main Trunk expresses. There is a big ilemaud for two-berth sleepers, and the new ones will avoid a fault of the original design which gave too little spa-c in the two-berth compartment. < 'atering on a large scale is now undertaken by the Railway Department, which conducts the railway refreshment rooms at Ashburton in the South Island, and Mart on Junction. Falmerston North, 'Mercer, Frankton Junction, and Hawera in the North. It is remarkable how easily the public adapted itself to the changes due to withdrawal of the dining cars. Probably this can be explained by the efficiency of the new system. Breakfast for the Auckland-Wellington express passengers is served at Marton Junction in n dining hall capable of simultaneously seating the whole train load of passengers. There is time, for the meal, and also for a "spruce up" after the night journey, ample facilities for this purpose being available. They constitute a pleasant alternative to the old systerr of washing in tbe cramped space on the train. While the passengers are at breakfast the railway staff cleans up the carriages. The buildings at Marton include accommodation for a large staff of waitresses, a depot for supplies for the North Island refreshment rooms. a patent bakery wiiere the Department will make all tbe bread and pastry for its catering business, and cool storage for meat, milk, and other perishable food.