RAILWAY FACILITIES

Dominion, Volume 29, Issue 117, 11 February 1936, Page 6

RAILWAY FACILITIES

Criticism by Upper Hutt

Residents

Considerable discontent with the railway facilities from Wellington to Upper Hutt is at present being expressed by Upper Hutt residents, especially those who use the trains daily, AVhile for many years they have felt that the. time taken over the journey is unnecessarily long, train travellers are particularly bitter over the class of carriages used for ■the Upper Hutt run. “Of all the suburban passengers in the Hutt Valley we pay the most in fares and we get tlie worst treatment,” one resident who uses the train daily told “The Dominion.” “I feel I am not exaggerating when I say that, and I do not speak with any parochial spirit. It is a fact which can be proved by anyone who likes to make a comparison.” Another traveller referred in particular to the 1.20 p.m. train from AVelliugton on Saturday. With the exception of one carriage next to the engine, all the cars were of the old type, and were fitted with side spats which ran the length of the carriage, he eaid. The front car was an old-fashioned first-class carriage made available to second-class passengers, but he did not wish to Use it as it was a nonsmoker. The only alternative was the side seats, which were uncomfortable in the extreme.

“It’s nothing short of a scandal,” declared a fellow passenger who was standing by. “The Lower Hutt am] Waterloo passengers, who travel half tbc distance and pay half the fare, get a far better class of carriage than we do. You have only to look at their trains to sec I bat. It does not seem fair that people who have to travel 20 miles should,be asked to use old-fashioned and uncomfortable carriages. If the Railways Department cannot give us a faster service at least they should provide decent carriages. “Obsolete carriages which should have been scrapped years ago are still running on this line. AVe hear a lot about popularising the railways, but it seems to me that the department i.s defeating its own ends,” it was stated.