RAILWAY EXCESSES. TO THE EDITOR.

Evening Post, Volume XXXIII, Issue 107, 7 May 1887, Page 2 (Supplement)

RAILWAY EXCESSES. TO THE EDITOR.

Sib^ — With your ponnission I would like to suggest an improvement in the old " rule of thumb" stylo in which tho "excess" tiokets are made out on the Govemmont lino. At the presont time (and I don't think that at any time the method could have been more primitive) the guard has to write out pretty nearly the whole wording of the ticket, and the passenger has to wait while he does it. The process, I presume to assert, in as ridiculous as it is inconvenient; it prevents the guard attending to duties which properly devolve upon him, and are necessary to the' safe running of the trains ; it irritates the passengers, and, I believe, occasionally detains them after the arrival of the train at its destination, and, finally, it could easily be superseded by some arrangement moro in keeping with the times. If the department would make a fresh departure, and go in for some modern applianoe, I have 'no doubt they would discover something to suit the oase without going very far, but if they must have the books, let the printing be fuller and better arranged. Supposo, for instance, that Kaiwarr* should have a book to itself, printed in lines and columns properly arranged, namely — "First-class, second-class, return, Kaiwarra to Wellington," the fares, Ac, and other matter necessary. The guard would then simply draw his pencil through the words not required, and initial the tioket, the operation taking less than a tenth of the time now required. If thoy must keep up tho old style let it bo done in shorthand ; that would be a relief. I am, &0., H. Boolkt. 2nd May.