Railway Services

Press, Volume CVIII, Issue 31680, 16 May 1968, Page 12

Railway Services

Sir, —Today I waited at the ticket counter at Christchurch railway station from 11.25 until 11.46 a.m. (a time when there is no rush of trains) to buy a ticket. It took probably less than a minute to get the ticket, so I was waiting in a queue for 20 minutes. During this time I would have imagined one of the men and women in the office, all of whom could see the counter, would have been availab’e to help the one woman selling tickets. This is not the first time I have had longish waits at this desk, but not before for 20 minutes, and from what I could hear from persons in the queue, waiting is a common experience. In recent times the Railways Department has been at pains to give better service to the public and to improve the department’s “image.” Why not at Christchurch railway station? —Yours, etc., TRAVEL BY RAIL.

April 30, 1968. [The general manager of New Zealand Railways (Mr I. Thomas), replies: "It is only on rare occasions that a queue develops at the booking counter at Christchurch whilst one of the two booking clerks is at lunch. However, arrangements have now been made for an additional clerk to be on duty to sell rail tickets only during the lunch break. This will enable the regular booking clerk to handle other types of business and will speed up the service to the department’s customers.”]