Ferry cancellations put strain on Railways bookings

Press, 8 January 1980, Page 3

Ferry cancellations put strain on Railways bookings

Blenheim reporter

The cancellation of Cook Strait ferry sailings last week has strained the Railways Department booking system, which travel agents have described as inadequate and time-consuming.

Travel agents say that the present manual system cannot give adequate notice of late cancellations. The cancellation of three sailings because of bad weather last Thursday has worsened the situation.

However, the Railways Department has said its bookings system is adequate but it is has conceded that a computer system would be quicker and more efficient. According to travel agents at Dunedin, the ferries are officially heavily booked, but they believe that there is plenty of room for passengers and vehicles in eight out of 10 sailings. It could be up to day before a cancellation was processed in Wellington and agents were notified, said an agent for Union Travel Ltd. in Blenheim (Mr M. Stretch).

“It’s not so bad here,” he said. “The only thing is, it’s not the most efficient system they could have. If only they had a computer system everybody would be happier.” He said the shortcomings of the manual booking system. were a “headache for

all concerned,” but another travel agent who said he dealt with more ferry bookings than most agents laid the fault more with “silly passengers and silly agents” than with the Railways Department. Some passengers treated the ferry sailing like a bus trip, said an agent for Dalgety Travel, Ltd. (Mr I. Nightingale). They would cancel their bookings, without consulting the Railways, thinking they could obtain a place in a later sailing easily. “We have always had this. I don’t point the finger at the Railways at all,” he said. Mr Nightingale suggested that a computer system such as Air New Zealand used for its seating reservations would be a help as it could provide up-to-date information on bookings and cancellations at each Railways office. The acting manager of Rail Ferry Services in Wellington (Mr B. Lundy) said yesterday that the present booking system was not out of date. The Railways handled very big numbers of people at Christmas time but a lot of them did not keep to their original bookings, he said. The department’s assistant publicity manager (Mr R. Hollingum) said that it was not so simple to install a computer system like Air New Zealand’s as the Railways had many more destinations and combinations of routes.

A computer charge could

be added onto fares to cover the cost of the machine, possibly doubling the suburban fares.

However, there was no reason why such a charge should be added, according to Air New Zealand’s traffic and sales supervisor, at Blenheim, Mr M. Blair. Air New Zealand did not add a computer charge to its booking fee.

The only problem with computers ’was that there was no back-up system to take their place when they failed, said Mr Blair. But this was only an administrative problem and would not inconvenience passengers or delay flights. The airline’s booking system incorporates a stand-by procedure in which late canlations are taken up by passengers waiting at the airport, many of them students or businessmen. There is no over-booking of internal flights but overseas flights can be over-booked by as much as 10 per cent to allow for expected cancellations.