SPEEDING UP

Hawera Star, Volume XLVIII, 17 March 1925, Page 5

SPEEDING UP

MAIL TRAIN SERVICES. TaRANAKI-WELLINGTON RUN! . THE NEW TIME-TABLE. (By Telegraph.—Special to Star.) WELLINGTON, March 16. Following the improvement to the Auckland-Wellington Main Trunk services, the Minister for Railways has announced an acceleration of the Well-ington-Napier and Wellington-New Plymouth mail trains, -eliminating stops and substantially reducing the total time taken on the through journey. The stations not- served by mail train stops‘are to lie covered by other trains, which will enable passengers for a long distance to make prompt connection with the expresses. The system is to be followed, when the Minister deals witli his next train improvement on the Christchureh-Invercargiil and Otago Central, service. The New Plymouth and Napier mail train accelerations are to operate from March’ 29, before the Easter holidays, and the 'Minister, remarked to your correspondent that “the acceleration of these services constitutes the commencement of a general policy to very materially speed up important passenger services. For many years dissatisfaction has .'been expressed jby the . travelling public at the time occupied on the journeys between Napier and Wellington and New Plymouth and Wellington. Minor improvements have been effected, but it has been recognised that if any material shortening of the time was to be made it could be done only by reducing the number of stopping places, and before stops could be eliminated, arrangements had to he made to provide local services to meet requirements, and this has resulted in a considerable amount of reorganisation of services. With regard to the two trains referred, to. these have been accelerated by approximately 1-} hours by non-stop runs between Wellington and Palmerston North on the up journey. On the downward journey the New Plymouth train will not stop between Palmerston North and Wellington, and the stopping places for the Napier train have been reduced from twelve to six. It has been urged for some time'- that these trains should reach Wellington earlier, to enable passengers for the ferry boat time to procure an evening meal and to catch the steamer in . comfort. This has been* provided for, as the Napier mail train will arrive at Wellington at 4.6 p.m., and the New Plymouth train at 6.3 p.m. “The times of departure from the termini have been considerable altered, but having regard to the improved services, the changes should meet with general satisfaction in Wanganui, Taranaki, and Hawke’s Bay districts. The local services have been altered where possible to better meet the 'requirements of stations that have been cut out as mail train stopping places.” The results of the speeding up of the Napier and New Plymouth mail trains are as follow :

Wellington to Napier,—Present time : Wellington depart 9.T0 a.m., Napier arrive 6.12 p.m. Proposed alteration : Wellington depart 9.35 a.m., Napier arrive 5.5 later, arrival T hour 7 minutes earlier; time saved, 1 hour 32 minutes. Napier to Wellington.—Present service: Napier depart 8.45 a.m., Wellington arrive 5.48 p.m. Proposed timetable: Napier depart 8.30 a.m., 15 minutes earlier; Wellington arrive 4.16 p.m., 1 hour 32 minutes earlier; time saved 1 hour 17 minutes. , Wellington to New Plymouth.—Present time-table: Wellington depart- 8.20 a.m., New Plymouth arrive 7.20 p.m. Proposed alteration : Wellington depart 10.5 a.m., 1 hour 45 minutes later; New Plymouth arrive 7.43 p.m., 23 minutes later ; time saved, 1 hour'22 minutes. •New Plymouth to Wellington.—Present time-table: New Plymouth depart 8.10 a.m., Wellington arrive 7.8 p.m. Proposed alterations: New Plymouth depart, 8.25 a.m., 15 minutes later; Wellington arrive 6.3 p.m., 1 hour 5 minutes earlier ; time saved, 1 hour 20 minutes. The Minister concluded by saying: “Having regard to the difficulty which had to be- got over in reorganising the services throughout- these important districts,. I think it will be gteneraily ognised that the proposed alterations will result in very considerable improvement. The acceleration of these passenger trains should enable the Department to satisfactorily compete with the road competition which has developed between Wellington, Palmerston North, and Wanganui, and as far as Hawera and New Plymouth. The transportation department is .actively engaged in recasting the time-table schedules of the more important trains throughout the Dominion. These will he brought into operation as soon as practicable. 1 ’ . - THE NEW TIME-TABLE.

For the New Plymouth mail train the new time-table js as follows: - The lip mail train leaves Wellington at 10.5 a.m.; Palmerston North, depart 1.2 p.m.; Feilding, arrive 1.22 p.m., depart 1.25 p.m.; Haleombe, depart 1.42 p.m.; Greatford, depart 1.55 p.m.; Marton, arrive 2.4 .p.m.., depart 2.24 p.m.; Turakina, 2.46 p.m.; Fordell, 3.13 p.m. ; Aramoho, arive 3.33 p.m.. depart 3.44 p.m.; Waverley, 4.53 p.m.; Patea,- 5:10 p.m.; Hawera, arrive 5.48 p.m-., depart 5.55 p.m.; Eltharn, depart 6.23 p.m.; Stratford, arrive 6.38 p.m.. depart 6.43 p.m.; Inglewood, 7.12 p.m. ; Leppertou,*7.27 p.m.; New Plymouth, arrive 7.43 p.m. Total time saved, 1 hour 22 minutes.

The down train leaves New Plymouth at 8.25 a.m.; Lepperton, 8.45 . a.m.; Inglewood, 9.5 a.m.; Stratford, arrive 9.32 a.m.. depart 9.37 a.m.; El.tham, depart 9.49 a."hi.; Hawera, arrive 10.9 a.m., depart J 0.14 a.m.; .Patea, depart 10.51 a.m. ; Waverley, 11.11 a.m.; Aramoho, arrive 12.18 p.m., depart 12.27 p.m.; Fordell, 12.51 p.m.; Tura-. kina. 1.16 p.m.; Ma-rton, arrive 1.41 p.m., depart 2.5 p.m.; Greatford, 2.12 p.m.; Halcombe, 2.25 p.m.; Feilding, 2.44 p.m. ; Palmerston North, arrive 3.4 p.m., depart 3.14 p.m.; Wellington, arrive 6.3 p.m. Time saved, 1 hour 20 minutes.