TO RUN WHOLE YEAR

Evening Post, Volume CIX, Issue 108, 9 May 1930, Page 11

TO RUN WHOLE YEAR

DAYLIGHT LIMITED

MODERNISED ROTORUA

TRAINS

IMPROVING SERVICES

The Main Trunk daylight limited expresses arc in future to run all the year round, and not in summer only. A statement to this effect lias been made by the General Manager of Railways, Mr. H. H. Sterling, says the "New Zealand Herald."

The announcement is further proof that the Railway Department' is making every effort to improve its long-distance services and to bring them up to date. The daylight limited, established as a summer holiday train only, did not take long to become popular with the public. This was not surprising, because it affords a ' quick means of transit between main stations all along the route, and also serves the convenience of travellers interested in scenery and those who for one reason or another dislike nighht railway journey, Since the growth of tourist traffic to and from the.National Park, the daylight limited has gained many more passengers. National Park station is the crossiiig-placc of the two daylight expresses, which connect it with Auckland and.Wellington by easy half-day runs, allowing passengers to see some of Ihc most "attractive scenery on the Main Trunk under conditions which were never possible with the ordinary and night limited expresses. The daylight trains have contributed a great deal to ..the popularity of the park.

DE LUXE TRAVEL.

Tho Department has added to the comfort of passengers travelling by the daylight expresses, providing an armchair or lounge car on each train. It has also detailed a porter to keep the carriages tidy by .dusting seats, removing waste-paper, providing clean towels, and so forth. This service is much appreciated, for after a journey of several hundred miles, with many passengers entering and leaving, a train invariably begins to look untidy unless it receives attention.

The faster express service between Auckland and*Rotorua, with its modern carriages, is another sign of progress. On this route the Department has suffered heavily' from motor competition, and it is determined to recapture and hold passenger business. Having set a new standard of appearance and comfort in' tho Rotorua carriages, it is in duty ljound'-to continue.the.work. There is good reason for thinking, that the Main Trunk trains will be dealt with next, and that the express day carriages in course of time, will be brought into harmony with the do luxe sleeping cars already in service.

REPLACEMENTS,

The. seeoud-class Main Trunk carriages appear most to need replacement, and possibly this matter will bo dealt with first. Those just brought into use on tlie Kotorua line are such a great improvement1 on anything previously known that the improvement cannot long be delayed. The Department has done much to improve its refreshment room service, which is now very, efficiently managed. Hints have been dropped that later there may be a reversion to dining cars, or, at any rate, to buffet cars for light refreshments. .-The .dining; oars..,-were eliminated because of the. high cost of haulage and'the difficulty of serving a full trainload of passengers without compelling some to wait a long time for a meal. Whether they are reinstated as an addition to the dining-room system will depend upon the growth of traffic. . . ■ ■ . • The new Auckland station will set a much higher standard of terminal accommodation. Further improvements in this respect cannot be very rapid, but they are- bound to come in timo at Wellington and also at such important junctions as Frankton and Palmerston North. The. Department no doubt is wisely concentrating on making the actual travel more comfortable before dealing with passenger station facilities throughout the country. - FUEL EXPERIMENTS. One matter which promises to remove some of the discomforts of railway travelling is also receiving attention. This is the smoke nuisance. Experiments carried out in conjunction with the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research have shown that by the use of special grates and an apparatus for injecting steam into the firebox of a locomotive smoke can be reduced almost to a minimum. It is also expected that the Botowaro plant for carbonising Waikato slack coal will produce, when it is complete, a practically, smokeless railway fuel. If these, projects do ail that is hoped, it will be'possible to keep carriages, inside and out, much cleaner than at present, and bring the whole appearance of the railway system more into keeping with the fastidious modern age.