AT THORNDON STATION

Evening Post, Volume CII, Issue 152, 24 December 1921, Page 7

AT THORNDON STATION

10 TBS EDITOR.

Sir,—l have just left the Thomdon railway station and have witnessed one of the biggest lnuddlements in handling tile public'that I have ever seen. Accompanying a friend who was leaving for Wanganui by the 7.40 a.m. special train, we found a crowd of intending passengers filling the ticket vestibule, with, all'gates shut til] 7.30, when the "reserved ticket" holders were admitted! one by one. Passengers by the Wanganui special, the 7.50 special, the New Plymouth mail, the Napier mail, and other trains were hopelessly mixed into one seething and pushing crowd. Passengers were arriving by train, motor, and on foot every minute, and by 7.40. the crowd had grown into several hundreds. People were fighting their way to the ticket window —and as no reserves conJd be purchased at the ticket window, tile unfortunate creatures then Jiad to fight their way .out again through the crowd moving up to the "reserved" gate. I saw women and children almost at the last gasp pf exhaustion —it required a hefty Rugby forward to cope with the struggle. As the crowd surged to the reserved gate one harrassed porter slowly aljowed the reserved ticket-holder Ito pass, sending many who were not possessed of the privilege to fight their way back through the crowd. One woman was jambed into the corner of the unopened gate, and seemed likely to remain there for some time. At the luggage counter niucb the same conditions prevailed. Cautious folks who left their bags at tha station overnight are now wishing they had not lean so cautious. I suppose the men behind the counter were doing their best) but the conditions iinder which they had to work made anything like speed impossible. Surely, Sir, better arrangements could be made to handle the holiday travelling public? It seemed to me that the luggage gateways at the north end of the station building could have been converted into entrances with olamlymarked indicators—"Pasaeneers for New Plymouth," "Passengers for Napier," etc., etc., and temporary ticket boxes erected with separate boxes for .the various lines. Also, a man or two in the vestibule controlling and directing the passerfffers is an absolute necessity. Unless some drastic alterations are made on Monday morning. Thorndon will be a good place to keep away from. —I am, etc., NOT A PASSENGER.-' 24th December.