INTER-ISLAND BOOKING.

Auckland Star, Volume LVI, Issue 84, 9 April 1925, Page 13

INTER-ISLAND BOOKING.

PASSENGERS AND GOODS. ARRANGEMENTS COMPLETED. (By Telezrapa.—Press Association.) WELLINGTON, Wednesday. The Minister of Railways, the Hon. • T - G. Coates, indicated recently that a system of inter-Island booking of passengers, parcels and goods was being investigated by the commercial branch of the Railway Department. The necessary arrangements Lave been completed, and the Minister announces that they will be put into effect as from May 11. So far as passenger booking is concerned this is an innovation, and should prove a valuable convenience to tile travelling public. A through-booking system for goods was in operation many years ago, but ■was abandoned owing to lack of support. However, it is considered that presentday conditions should make the arrangement very desirable, both from the point of view of users and the Department. Commencing on May 11, intending passengers will be able to obtain at any fetation at which there is a stationmaster a steamer ticket for the journey from Wellington to Lyttelton, or viceverEa, in addition to tickets for the rail journey in each island. The fares usually charged by the Union Steamship Company will be collected, plus a small fee to cover the cost of telegrams to reserve the steamer berths. Passengers travelling, say, from Dunedin to Auckland may, by making arrangements with the Railway Department beforehand, be assured of reserved accommodation throughout the journey. From May ll the public will be enabled to dispatch goods and parcels to any railway station by merely filling in a consignment note at the dispatching station. °