TRAMS SAID TO BE UNCOMFORTABLE

Press, Volume LXX, Issue 21320, 13 November 1934, Page 16

TRAMS SAID TO BE UNCOMFORTABLE

NEW BRIGHTON AND SUMNER ROUTES COMMENT AT BOARD MEETING Complaint against the uncomfortable appointments and draughty condition of city trams, especially those on the New Brighton and Sumner routes, was made by some members of the Christchurch Tramway Board at the meeting of the board yesterday afternoon, when the investigation of that complaint was referred to the works and traffic committee. Mr J. Mathison introduced the subject. He said that he had received specific complaints from users of the New Brighton trams. The complaints were against the draughty condition of the trams used. The trouble with the particular type of tram used on the New Brighton route was that it was unsuitable, draughty, uncomfortable, and had only restricted accommodation. Mrs E. R. McCombs, MP., supported Mr Mathison's complaint. She said that similar statements applied to the trams on the Sumner route, which were quite unsuitable for long journeys. She recalled that she had made the complaint a long time ago. She felt that the position was so acute that Sumner residents were justified in accepting lifts to the city offered by owners of private motor-cars. The problem would have to be faced immediately. The chairman, Mr J. K. Archer, agreed that if there was serious cause for complaint it should be investigated, but added that in summer weather plenty of fresh air was necessary and desirable on trams. Similar Trams in Wellington Mr E. J. Howard, M.P., said that similar trams were used in Wellington, and there was no complaint against them. Also, he had used the New Brighton tram night after night and day after day when in Christchurch, and was not satisfied that the complaint was a general one. He had seen passengers preferring to stand on the open section of the trams rather than take seats available in either of the cabins.

The argument that' the problem of car design was not one that could be considered for one or two routes alone was advanced by Mr G. T. Thurston. He said that the board had no money to make general alterations. Mr Mathison: It can be created.

Mr Thurston added that there was one way in which amendment could be made immediately. Fewer trailers could be used on the New Brighton route. The trams in Christchurch were unsuitable, both in weight and size, but that was a legacy to the board from former times. There was no money to make the general alterations and replacements necessary.

Mr Howard: The trams are like dreadnoughts. The complaint was referred to the works and traffic committee for a report.

The Type Objected To About 1910 the Tramway Board constructed 28 cars with cabins at each end and 16 seats in the central open part of the car. Later on in 1929 the open portion was closed in also with an entrance in the centre. They have since been so used principally on the city lines, with no complaints from passengers. Latterly they have been diverted to Sumner and New Brighton. Running on more exposed routes complaints have been received that the open door in the centre causes too great a draught. The general manager says that estimates are being prepared of the cost of altering the position of the central door so that when it is open it will always be at the rear of the central seats. In the meantime a notice is being placed over the doors to say that they will be closed by conductors at the request of any passenger. The reasons why this type of car is being sent to New Brighton and Sumner as well as used on some city lines arc that their conversion into one-man cars would have cost £2OO more than the closed-in Brill cars usually used on the seaside lines. This is the reason, Mr Thompson says, why the Brill car is being used for conversion into one-man cars for the Riccarton line. Six of them are now in the workshops undergoing this change.