DAYLIGHT LIMITED EXPRESS.

Auckland Star, Volume LVII, Issue 111, 12 May 1926, Page 6

DAYLIGHT LIMITED EXPRESS.

DEPARTS NEARLY EMPTY. TWO HUNDRED SEATS TO SPARE. There were 259 seats available for passengers on the Daylight Limited express which left Auckland for Wellington this morning. Of that number 75 were occupied. There were 16 passengers for Frankton, leaving 59 for stations south of the Waikato junction.

In the first-class section of the train, which comprised 103 seats, 19 had been reserved, and seven unreserved and occupied for stations south of Frankton. Of the 156 second class seats available, 22 had been reserved, and 11 were occupied by passengers who had not booked accommodation.

The Daylight Limited, being essentially a long-distance train, the above figures show that, when she left Auckland, out of 259 seats available, 200 were vacant for the journey to Wellington. On these returns it is proved conclusfvely that the Daylight must be running at a considerable loss to the country. In the past there has been a cry from the North concerning the unpayable lines and services in the South. A prominent business man in Auckland, when shown the above figures this morning, said: "It looks to mc as if it is about time the Northern public woke up to the fact that with euch unpayable trains as the Daylight Limited we are materially assisting the South in their endeavours to make the railways a losing proposition."