Feilding’s Railway Traffic

Manawatu Times, Volume 61, Issue 5, 7 January 1936, Page 3

Feilding’s Railway Traffic

HOLIDAY SEASON FIGURES While the city centres record increases in railway passenger bookings for tho holiday season, Feilding reports a decline and this falling-off, it is suggested, is due to the increasing motor traffic in tho country districts. Yesterday Mr J. Finlay, stationmaster at Feilding, made available the returns for tho three-weekly period to January 5, together with the comparative figures for the ' samo period last year. The passenger bookings for tho festive season just passed were 60 lirst-eTass passengers and 1610 secondclass, which returned a revenuo of £OOS 5s sd. For the holiday period, 1931-35, the passenger bookings were S 4 first-class and 1857 second-class, with a revenue of £741 8s lOd. The returns for tho comparative period were swelled by the visit to Marton and Palmerston North of tho Duke of Gloucester, his appearance at the races at Marton on New Year’s Day, 19Jo, accounting for a largo railway passenger traffic from Feilding. However, even allowing for the traffic increases in the 1934-35 festive season on tho the occasion of the Duke’s visit, the returns for the festive season traffic just closed are still far short of what was expected. The bngnter business tono evident in early December suggested that the holiday period would produce a greater demand for railway travel, and while this will be reflected in tho Dominion returns sinco tho returns from the main centres of population are up, it was not so with Feilding. Mr Finlay stated yesterday that the express trains all carried a full complement of passengers and the demand for accommodation was indicated in tho fact that two limited expresses left Wellington for Auckland on Sunday night—an unprecedented occurrence. Again yesterday there were two expresses from New Plymouth, one train being insufficient to meet tho demand of returning holidaymakers. Tho returns for sheep and fat lamb traffic give colour to tho recent comment in the “Times” as to the decreased lambing in the Feilding district. Tho outward despatch of sheep and lambs from Feilding for the period November 1 to January 4 numbered 43,530 as against 02,230 for the same period, 1934-35. This substantial drop eloquently reflects the difficult season breeders havo experienced. Lambs have been late in maturing, and while it is expected to make up some of the deficiency before the season is closed, the final figures are expeted to coincide with the estimated 15 per cent, fall in lambing percentages. The only bright spot in the returns supplied by Mr Finlay yesterday were the figures in relation to the carriage of wool, which show a substantial increase notwithstanding late shearing. For the period October 12 to January 4, 7460 bales were trucked from Feilding, as against 5170 over the same period, 1034-35. With shearing still in progress in the district, it is expected that the final figures will discloso an even greater increase than those rellected above.