New Facilities At Otira Refreshment Room In Operation

Greymouth Evening Star, 26 September 1949, Page 4

New Facilities At Otira Refreshment Room In Operation

The modernisation of the facilities for midday meals at the Otira railway station is now almost complete. Only the provision of the two new doors to eliminate the possibility of “bottlenecks” at rush periods remains outstanding. The new glass-topped horse-shoe counter was brought from the Addington workshops, a week ago and, with the new sinks, was installed during a Sunday operation. All the old fittings were removed and replaced within 'two days, and the remainder of the time has been spent in completing the interior work, painting and decorating. Though the new arrangements are expected considerably to i educe the time required for serving refreshments at Otira, the fun benefit of the improvements will not be apparent until the new doors are fitted. These are being manufactured at Addington now, and on their completion, the present doors will be removed for alteration and improvement. The two new doorways will then be cut and the four doors fitted. This should reduce by at least halt the congestion that occurs in the refreshment room doorways on the arrival of trains. Since the new facilities were first used last week, there has not been a big demand for meals, most trains carrying only moderate numbers of passengers, and the new arrangements have not undergone a real testing period.