DEPARTURE TIMES OF DELAYED TRAINS

Press, Volume CVI, Issue 31318, 14 March 1967, Page 1

DEPARTURE TIMES OF DELAYED TRAINS

The Federation of Labour stop-work meeting in Christchurch tomorrow morning will mean the cancellation of some passenger transport services and delays m the departure times of others.

The departures of all main trunk railway services scheduled between 8 a.m. and 1 pjn. will now be after Ip.m.

All suburban and shorthaul passenger trains in the Canterbury area will' be cancelled during the five-hour stoppage except for one train which will leave Lyttelton for Christchurch at 8.21 a.m. The District Traffic Manager of Railways (Mr M. R. Leineweber) said all workers’ pay would be stopped while they were absent from the job. Mr Lelnewebei laid that as a result of the stop-work meeting the 8.40 a.m. Christchurch - Invercargill train would not leave till 1.30 p.m.; the 9.25 a.m. ChristchurchPicton rail-car would not leave till 1.20 p.m.; and the Christchurch-Ross > rail-car, scheduled for 10 a.m., would leave at 1.25 p.m. Passengers booked on those services whose destinations required a connexion with the Westport and Otago Central lines would be conveyed to their destinations either by rail or alternative road transport so their connexion would be maintained.

Passenger services in the Christchurch area which would be cancelled included the 7.30 a.m. ChristchurchBurnham train, the Springfield - Christchurch train scheduled for 7.50 a.m. and four trains from and four

trains to Lyttelton. Mr Leineweber said the Christchurch-Lyttelton service would resume at 1.15 p.m. and the first train to Christchurch from Lyttelton would depart at 1.45 p.m. The Dunedin stop-work meeting called for today would affect only one service to Christchurch—the Inver-cargill-Christchurch express. That train, scheduled to arrive at Christchurch at 7.20 p.m., would now arrive about 8 p.m. The departure of the inter-island ferry would be delayed. Mr Leineweber said a number of goods trains would also be cancelled or delayed and shunting would be suspended from 8 a.m. on Wednesday.

The 1 p.m. ChristchurchGreymouth goods train would not leave till 3.30 p.m. because of the Christchurch meeting and fruit and vegetables would be accepted- between 1 p.m. and 2.30 p.m. The Canterbury branch of the Amalgamated Society of Railway Servants had agreed to handle perishable goods arriving in Christchurch up till 8 a.m. on Wednesday morning. Refreshment room staff would provide breakfast for those people who arrived from Wellington on the interisland ferry on Wednesday morning and the rooms would then close. The luggage office would be closed between 8 a.m. and 1 p.m, Mr Leineweber said.

Five Railway buses from Christchurch scheduled for

Wednesday morning would not leave till 1 p.m. These were the 7.50 a.m. bus for Ashburton; the bus scheduled for 8 a.m. for Waiau; the bus scheduled for 8.30 a.m. for Hanmer and Westport; the bus scheduled for 8.15 a.m. for Akaroa and the one scheduled for Dunedin at 9.45 a.m. None of the services into Christchurch would be affected.

The operations manager of Midland Motorways Services, Ltd. (Mr R. C. Wasley) said yesterday he bad received a letter from the union which said N.A.C., special and essential services would run. No Meat Shortage No-one would be short of meat because of the decision of abattoir workers not to kill stock on Wednesday, said the manager of the Christchurch city abattoirs (Mr L. Neale) yesterday. Extra killing was done yesterday and more extra killing would be done at the abattoirs today and on Thursday to make up the deficiency from the lost day’s killing tomorrow. Mr Neale said that although housewives would not be short of meat there would be no surplus. Supplies of suppr lamb and beef would be limited. The secretary of the Canterbury Freezing Workers’ Union (Mr E. Amst) yesterday said that slaughtermen and other members of the union employed at the abattoirs had decided to take Wednesday off to attend the stop-work meeting.