Railway tickets

Press, 6 November 1978, Page 16

Railway tickets

Sir, — On Monday, October 30, we had the misfortune to require railway tickets from the Christchurch Railway Station. We waited for more than one hour to purchase tickets. Only two staff were available to handle about 50 people while some staff sat behind the counter. Elderlv oeople had to stand and wait and one elderlywoman collapsed. When some

people finally reached the counter, the ticket officer

would shut the queue, and the people had to go to the back of the other lines. No wonder the railways do not make a profit. The taxpayer pays the bills and rude and discourteous staff are provided to deal with the public. — Yours, etc., D. HAMILTON. October 30, 1978. [The Acting District Traffic Manager of Railways, Mr D. J. Bradley, replies: “On Monday, October 30, the booking counter staff was two members short, because of sickness, etc. This, combined with an abnormal demand for rail and rail ferry reservations, particularly for the Christmas holiday period, resulted in some delays at the counter at certain times during the day. Unfortunately. the correspondent has riot specified any time of the day in the letter. However, the only long times two members were serving on the counter was at 8* a.m. and again at 5 p.m. Staff sitting behind the counter screen are mainly administration staff and are not connected with ticket sales. 1 am most concerned to learn that a person could have collapsed while standing at the counter and this letter was the first intimation we had of the incident. Extensive inquiries made among staff have failed to reveal that anyone saw or reported this person's distress. Alterations have now been made to the layout immediately in front of the booking counter to overcome the previous problem.’’]