TRAVEL RESTRICTIONS

Press, Volume LXXX, Issue 24160, 20 January 1944, Page 6

TRAVEL RESTRICTIONS

Sir,—l quite agree with your correspondent George Ingram. I was subjected to considerable inconvenience and delay yesterday in having to obtain permission to travel from Christchurch to Ashburton (53 miles) by the 5 p.m. train. The permit was issued without my being asked a single question beyond my name. The train consisted of eight carriages and two guards’ vans. There was seating accommodation for more than 300 persons; but at no time was the train more than one-third full. A fellow passenger in the same carriage, travelling the same distance, was without a permit. He got to his destination in the same way as everyone else, with nothing more than a mild rebuke. How long is this bureaucratic nonsense to continue? The remedy is to restrict the service. Those who must travel will reserve their seats.—Yours, etc., J. B. PEARSON. Ashburton, January 18, 1944.

Sir,—A number of horses entered for the Forbury Park Trotting Club’s meeting will have to travel by rail. Are they to be allowed to travel, while the public have to show special reasons to obtain a travel permit?— Yours, etc., MINER. January 17, 1944. [Unless the restrictions are lifted, horses for the Forbury Park Trotting Club’s meeting on January 29 will not be conveyed by rail, says Mr G. Clark, the Railway Department’s district traffic manager at Christchurch.]