Slight Rise In Bookings For Christmas Travel

Press, Volume CIII, Issue 30630, 22 December 1964, Page 18

Slight Rise In Bookings For Christmas Travel

More persons have booked transport in and out of Christchurch this Christmas than last Christmas, but the increase is slight. The railways report that bookings began to come in later than usual this year, but have picked up in the last eight or 10 days. It was wise to book ahead if railway travel between now and the middle of January was being considered, a spokesman for the department said. There would be extra services to Dunedin, and persons travelling to Dunedin during the next two weeks would be well advised to book in the next day or so. The services to Picton were not very heavily booked except on Saturday, December 26, Saturday, (January 2, and Saturday, January 9. On these three days there would be a relief ex-1 i press, but in the main the ordinary rail-car was coping with bookings. On December 26 the relief train would run from Christchurch to Picton, and on the other two days it would run from Picton to Christchurch. On the West Coast line rail-car services were coping on most days, but there would be extra trains on Monday, January 4, running both ways, and on Friday, January 8, and Friday, January 15. An extra rail-car would run from Christchurch to Greymouth on Christmas Eve, leaving at 10.36 a.m.

Heaviest Day The heaviest day for railway traffic is December 23, but traffic will be heavy on all days from now to December 28, when it eases. Traffic in and out of the city by rail is fairly evenly balanced. Newman Brothers report a far busier pre-Christmas

booking period than last year, the busiest period being from December 26 to December 28. There are extra services on Christmas Eve which are still not full, and another on December 28. Traffic tapers off from then until early January, when there is another surge out of the city. Generally services have been trebled, with about nine buses a day travelling from Christchurch to Nelson. Bookings have been coming in fairly early. Excursion trips are being run from Christchurch to Nelson from January to April, and these threeday trips are well booked. Midland Motorways Services report that the Christ-church-Dunedin service is more heavily booked than last year by a small amount, Christmas Eve being the most popular day. Suburban services for shoppers, are very heavy at the moment, but will become very much lighter after Christmas.

Sight-seeing tours, both one day and half-day, are heavily booked through January, the Benmore and “around the gorges” tours being very popular. Both tomorrow and Thursday are heavily booked from Christchurch to Dunedin, and bookings have been coming in early. Air Services The branch manager of the National Airways Corporation (Mr J. E. Davies) said that in the next two weeks there would be about 80 extra flights out of Christchurch to cope with Christmas traffic. The most popular days are from today to Christmas Day, with loadings heavy except for flights to Wellington and points south of Christchurch. The pressure lightens on most services from December

26, but Auckland flights are all heavily booked and so are flights to some other northern points, such as Gisborne, Napier, and Hamilton. Sunday, December 27, is a comparatively light day for bookings as yet. Compared with last year, bookings are considerably heavier, but are coming in rather later, except for some of the more popular flights. Flights on Monday, January 4, are heavily booked for persons returning to their homes, and the week-end of January 8 to 11 is also heavily booked. Mr Davies said there was not the heavy concentration of bookings on the one day, as was the position last year, because of the holiday being spread over several days. Steamer Express

For the inter - island steamer express bookings from the north are heavier after the New Year’s Day. However, there are still a few berths available on most days.

There is a waiting list for tomorrow evening's sailing from Lyttelton, but there is plenty of room on the Thursday daylight sailing. On other days there is still some accommodation available. There are waiting lists on January 2,7, 8,9, and 11. For the sailings from Wellington there are waiting lists today, tomorrow, and on Thursday evening. There is room on the Thursday daylight sailing. There is a waiting list on December 28. Most bookings have come in fairly early, but are more widely spread than last year. The Aramoana is making an extra 6.40 p.m. sailing to Wellington, and is heavily booked on December 23, 24, 26, and 28. There is still some passenger room on most days, but no room for cars.