GROSSLY INADEQUATE.

Dominion, Volume 5, Issue 1362, 13 February 1912, Page 7

GROSSLY INADEQUATE.

MAIN TRUNK TRAIN ACCOMMODATION. TRAVELLERS' COMPLAINTS. After paying a flying visit to Oamarii and travelling by tho North and South Island express trains, the. Mayor of Auckland (Mr. C. J. Parr) is convinced that the travelling public in tho North Island havo just causo for 6orious complaint against the present miming of the Main Trunk service. In eipressirig this opinion to an Auckland "Herald" repreuentative, Mr. Parr contrasted the travelling facilities provided in the two islands. "Here," he said, "between the capital of the Dominion and Auckland, its largest and most important centre, only one express is run daily. Between Christchurch and Dunedin, on the other liand, a double express service is provided; and has been running for many years. In my visit South I travelled from Christchurch to Onmarn in a carriage half empty, and coming back in the express next day there were plenty of scats to spare. The first-class smoker, for instance, was only half full, a most unnsual thing for an Aucklander to see." "That," continued the Mayor, "was my experience on the South Island express, but when I got back to the North Island I fared differently. Half an hour before the express left Wellington there was not a seat that was not either occupied or reserved.' At 11.50, when the train was due to start, there were numbers of people standing in the passages and on the platforms, unable to get seats. At the last moment two extra cars were put on, making a train of 19 wagons and three engines—two pnlling in front and one at tho back, to push the train. Even this tmergency provision was quite inadequate. At leaet 20 people walked about rhrough the long train for half an hour looking for a seat. Ono man lad two elderly ladies with him, and these three unfortunates were obliged to trudge up and down tho train for nearly an hour before.;they could manage to secure accommodation.' I also saw two passengers Bitting on their luggage in tho space between tho seats. The two sleeping-cars on the train were full, and at least 25 people, who wanted berths, were nnable to get them. Indeed, most of the berths had been booked up for many days beforehand. One well-known Auckland merchant tried three days, before to get a berth, and failed. "It is true," added the Mayor, "that we had a number of immigrants by the Tiotorua on board, but this surely should have been foreseen, and provision made accordingly. What justification, I ask, is there for taking £2 '13s. 10d. from a. traveller for a first-class passage, and not being able to give him a seat or a sleeping berth, when he is prepared to pay for it i> Lest it bo said that what I have described, is an abnormal state of affairs, I may say that I am credibly informed that the overcrowding of this express is a regular occurrence at the present time. It is not my business to suggest the remedy. That is a matter for the Railway Department. The public, at any ra.te,.is intensely dissatisfied, rind T can only say that there is amplo justification for complaint. Briefly, tho position that faces the Department is that tho present service is grossly inadequate." . Wretched Lavatories. "They don't seem to'know how to build railway carriages in this country," said a recent tourist, who characterised our railways as the worst in the world. "I have travelled in Indii, Africa, America, snd Australia, and nowhere is the railway train, accommodation so inadequate or so much' behind the times as in New Zealand. ,In addition to the discomforts attendant upon your narrow guage, your trains, are very slow, there is not an 'express' worthy of tho name in the country. .And as for , personal comfort, there is no. attteinpt to secure it—no attempt to cater for a public that delights !» tftivel. The upholstery .of the seats in the : firs.t-cla,?s, carriages is.liard, and has a v glaZeU surface;' which' .positively resents after the. hret few hours. 71 do not know what it would be like without a nig. There i.v too ..that shocking habit of allowing ?!."■' ■ so l a it o ' -V* o ?}?-' to S° - wandering through- the carriages. At or near mealtimes the procession never seems to end; the sickening wait for a chair in the <linin»:car, and what is werso—really-a dis-Ifrace-are the poky little lavatories and conveniences. They are shocking enough in themselves, but they are not kept decently clean, which is inexcusable. On .?•£ of ; a " , tlu S'«««*■• the gnard about every half-hour to scrutinise tickets. If you happen to be dozing, he will jab or shako you into wakefulness, though he am! S ZUT half-dozen times, bound to Wh<?re rou a ™ "In the carriages On the broad-gaife sSthT"? v^T M '* bouth Australia-; there- are lavatories in which • man or two: or three men mav andfet& iagesthat '» Tife^P