RAIL-CAR SERVICE

Greymouth Evening Star, 8 November 1944, Page 2

RAIL-CAR SERVICE

FURTHER REPRESENTATIONS

Fresh steps to urge the Minister of Railways (Mr. Semple) to improve the West Coast-Christchurch rail-car. service were adopted by the Council of the Westland District Progress League, last evening, which authorised the transmission of a further telegram to Mr. Semple. Mr. J. Saunders (Secretary) stated there had been no reply by the Minister to the letter forwarded by Mr. W. D. Taylor (President) on October 27, urging the provision of special rail-car or train services for the Labour week-end. , ~ _ It was decided to send the following telegram: “Absence of reply to my telegram and letter of October 27 necessitates approaching you again, li the statement that eight special trains ran on the Lyttelton-Invercar-gill line over Labour week-end is correct consider Department guilty ot unjust discrimination and of neglect of this district. Are other matters mentioned in my telegram receiving consideration? please reply.” Mr. Saunders, commenting on the report in the “Greymouth Evening Star” relative to the rail-car patronage last Friday evening, when the accommodation was not fully taken, said the Railway Department’s version appeared to him to give the wrong impression; it seemed to him that many persons on the standing list, feeling they would not have an opportunity of securing a seat, had not bothered to go to the station. At the same time, he felt, they should have notified the Department that they did not intend to travel by the car, thus sparing officials a good deal of work. The Communications Committee submitted the following remit: “That in view of the alternate routes from Nelson and Westport to Christchurch, the matter of reservations from these two places be reduced and the number from Greymouth be increased accordingly.” . 1 „ . Mr. J. S. Robertson said that on a recent night, the car from Greymouth had ample room, but it was filled at Stillwater by an athletic party returning from Nelson instead of travelling via Kaikoura. He contended the car should be reserved for the West Coast, for which district the service had been initiated. The remit was adopted.

Commenting on Mr Robertsons' statement that an athletic party from the Nelson district had filled the railcar at Stillwater, an official of the Railways Department, to-day, stated that the party was not of such a nature, but comprised 13 students of the Training College from the district between Inangahua and Nelson. They were returning from the Spring vacation —the first time they had been able to travel home since Christmas, because of the rail restrictions.