"TREATED LIKE CATTLE"

Evening Post, Volume CXXXII, Issue 83, 4 October 1941, Page 10

"TREATED LIKE CATTLE"

"They should not take people's money arid then dump them out like a lot of cattle on a siding," said a woman first-class passenger, who arrived in Wellington yesterday, after being transferred from the Auckland train to a bus at Paekakariki. ■ After passengers had been standing with their luggage on' the station in the rain and the wind for about a quarter of an hour, she said, three small buses came in sight and the rush that followed was just a case of "survival of the fittest," with a large number of local residents joining in. The buses were inadequate, and the remaining passengers were told that more would be along in ten minutes. After a wait of three-quarters of an. hour in the rain they saw one more small bus arrive, and this, also, was asked to accommodate local residents as well as passengers.

Asked to ■ comment upon this complaint, the Department explained that in normal conditions the Wellington City Council would have co-operated with the Department in assisting with its buses, and taxis also would have been used, but exceptional conditions within the city itself precluded the use of supplementary transport. Whilst regretting any inconvenience to travellers, the Department pointed out that every available unit of its own road passenger fleet was in continuous service during- the morning, and that all possible efforts were made Jo minimise inconvenience to passengers.