RAILWAY SERVICE.

Auckland Star, Volume LV, Issue 252, 23 October 1924, Page 8

RAILWAY SERVICE.

COMMISSIONERS' TOUR. SOME AUCKLAND SUGGESTIONS BETTER WAIKATO SERVICE. The English railway experts, Sir S. Fay and Sir V. Raven, who have been engaged by the New Zealand Government to make a report on the New Zealand railways, returned to Auckland yesterday from the North, and left again early this morning on their way back to Wellington, via Woodville. Evidenc concerning suggested improvements has been collected by the Auckland Chamber of Commerce, and this was submitted to the Commission yesterday evening by a deputation from tlie Chamber, comprising Messrs. A. A. Martin (president), M. Stewart, F. M. "Winstone, R. L. Stewart, A. C. Norton, and H. C. Tewsley (secretary). The first suggestion was for a service enabling a person to make a one-day trip to the Waikato and back. At present the trains did not permit a business man to go up to Hamilton in the morning, spend half a day there, and get back to town in the evening. Attention was called to the insufficiency of the sleeping accommodation on the Main Trunk trains. Regarding the booking of seats the Auckland witnesses asked that the mimimum distance be reduced from 100 miles to 50 mileß. Among other reforms asked for was a booking office somewhere in a central position in the city—somewhere about the Town Hall, for instance. At present there is no means of obtaining a receipt for goods left at flag stations, and it was suggested that tablet porters might act in the matter where they were stationed. The absence of tallying when goods were shipped direct into railway trucks on the wharf was criticised, and a system by which the "Department would undertake the transhipment of goods from North Island to South Island and vice versa was suggested. Anomalies in the tariff were pointed out, and it was complained that the practice of taking trucks for carrying passengers during race meetings and other gatherings caused much inconvenience to shippers of goods. The Commission "promised to give full consideration to the matters raised. Deviation to Kumeu. A deputation from the Kumeu Ratepayers' Association waited on the Commission and advocated a deviation of the round-about Kaipara line between Morningside and Kumeu. If the line went direct it would save six miles and the present steep grades would be cut out. It was considered that the saving to the Department would be £14,000 a year. The deputation did not suggest that the present line be abandoned, but that it be electrified and used for the suburban service. Other matters raised by the deputation included those of workers' tickets, the age for half-fare children, and the suburban rate. It was pointed out that it cost more to travel between Swanson and Avondalc than between Auckland and Swanson.