A FEW POINTERS

Auckland Star, Volume L, Issue 155, 1 July 1919, Page 6

A FEW POINTERS

ABOUT THE NEW REGIME. SUNDAY AT TAUMARUNUI. SHOPPERS FROM SUBURBIA. Inquiries into the possible, indeed the prub_blc effects of the railway curtailments that will set in to-morrow make it clear that before the restrictions have •been operating for many days there will lie a long list of assorted complaints,

because each section of the community will naturally air its own particular grievance. More than a hint has been made that the Railway Department is killing more than one bird with the one stone by making the alterations, but there remains little doubt that the new-time-table will have the effect of booming one or two towns in the interior. In this connection it has been pointed out that it would be well for the intending passengers up or down tihe Main Trunk to book accommodation in advance, for there is a certainty that if many people travel by the slower trains, and the experience of the past has shown that there are always some who are compelled to journey between centres, the accommodation at Taumariuiui, for instance, will be at a premium. In Palmertson North the position will not be quite as bad, yet there will be difficulty cnougQi in gaining a resting-place there .or the night. But Taumarunui, though a fairly big place, with 1,341 of a population, will have difficulty in providing beds for a, great number of people. If the traffic is at all near the normal, the same difficulty will be met at Frankton, for there the railway branches, and a ' .traveller by the Main"Trunk who wi_hes to transfer for the Rotorua. Cambridge, j Thames or Waihi lines, will have to put in some time here. Another thing that will probably deter '. many passengers from leaving Auckland on the Main Trunk journey by the express on Saturday morning will be the matter of staying ait Taumarunui over Sunday, for the train will pull in at . that town on Saturday night, and the traveller will have no chance of getting away again by rail before Monday morning. " That will mean week-end accommodation at Taumarunui. It is interesting to notice that at present the suburban trains from Papatoetoe and elsewhere are well patronised, so that there will be an exceptional traffic on these lines under the amended scheme. There must be, for peivple must get into their daily tasks by rail, and they must get out home again in the evening. Yet, on paper, the curtailment of tbe suburban morning service does not seem to be very severe, and will not impose a great deal of hardship upon suburbia, except for the fact that an early return home must be made every evening. Under the new regime, suburban lady read-

dents •wishinjr to shop will have to come in by the parly morninpr trains, and cannot "set back a<rain till well on in tihe evening, A case of definite liardsliip seems to be that of the nurserymen, who have just a short season of the year in which to market fheir fruit and kindred produce. This will not 'be acepted on the raJlwavc;, so unless alteration is made to meet this exceptional case the outlook for these people will be black indeed.