RAILWAY BUNGLES.

Dominion, Volume 4, Issue 1110, 25 April 1911, Page 3

RAILWAY BUNGLES.

Sir,—While one may appreciate in a measure the oiieu-rciteraieu statement of the Hon. J. A.'Millar, .Minister lor Kailways, that he intends to mako his Department pay, it is hardly fair tnat his profits should be made at the expense ot public misconception regarding many things under his administration. I will refer to one or two of those as facts which have come under my special notice.. . Take, for instance, tne April issue of tho New Zealand Railways' time-table, published by authority, and recently raised in price from one penny lo threepence per copy. \Vheu an article (an ordinary, very ordinary, article, by the way) lias been increased 200 per cent in price, one naturally expects something near perfection in the output. To say the loafjt, one looks forward to figure accuracy. This expectation is not realised by the time-table in quest inn. On i'iigo GO of this issue, it states under he important heading of "Uinbton (Weiington), Wnnganui, New I'lymi'iith, via Wairarupi;. through time-table r.nil fares," that a train leaves I'Vather-lon at (i.."> a.m., Woodvillc at 11.25 a.m., and arriving at Pnliuorston North at 12.18, docs not leave that town till -1..™ for Aramoho, which place is i-ct down to bo reached at 8.18. Nothing i< said about a train leaving Maslertcn at 0.20 a.m., which arrives at Woodville at !>.IO, and arrives at I'almerslnn North in lime to junction with the Now Plymouth express northwards. By reading Page fit), the traveller is led to believp thai; no junction can bo made from the Wairarana with the New Plymouth express norihwards from Pnlmerston. On Pages HI and .'ls there is no evidence that the Main Trunk expresses should stop on any account at Ilunterville, still that train docs slop .tlmre both on its up and down trip?. The whole thing shows carelessness in eoni-

pilation, which carelessness it is only fair to state has been rectified by some railway srjil ionmastpi's. One need not bo surprised that the railway time-table is being viewed with much suspicion by the linvelliiig public, and that its circulation, never very large, is on a further fall. If a time-table cannot he published with accuracy regarding figures, it should not be published at all. Now for another point regarding the regulations of this precious time-table. I'age 1(12 uf the issue states, under the heading of "I'cfrrshinpiil Rooms," inter alia:—'"Die lessee is bound by the terms of liis lease to supply articles of (lie best description only, and passengers who consider that they have reason to complain should do so to the stationmastcr." It should be explained that stationmasters are expected to put in weekly reports on the refreshment rooms. Tho other week, on the Auckland section, I had reason to complain of bad tea and rancid butter purveyed at one refreshment room, but* the stationmaster refused to accept the complaint', stating that it had nothing to do with him, and that it should be sent to the General Manager. It this is so, why is it not slated on page 1(12. Some ilays later I again struck bud butter at the same . refreshment room. The attendant very tartly said that she did not make it, and tlie chief clerk at the railway station also refused to tako my complaint. When I referred to his action as extraordinary in tho interests of the travelling public, and also made reference to the inaccurate time-tablo then being published, his sententious reply was that I was evidently a man looking for trouble. As the raili/ays are kept going by the industry and enterprise of the population, and not by Departmental officials, the ignorant impertinence, of such a reply is obvious. Railway officials should possess the virtues of patience, intelligence, and tact, otherwise they are not fit for their' positions. The New Zealand railway policy is not one of enterprise, vide Mr. Nathan's statement at the Wellington Chamber of Commerce meeting, but its officials should be respectful if they cannot be anything else. The system shows a looseness, probably tho fault of political patronage, and 1 am convinced that tho sooner it is ended, or mended, tho better it will be for the travelling public "which keeps' tho business going.—l am, etc., TRAVELLER.