THE THROUGH EXPRESS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLV, Issue 13781, 20 June 1908, Page 3

THE THROUGH EXPRESS.

Sir,—Anont the proposal to run tho ex-*.--press at night in connection with t-ho' through service from Auckland to Invercir-' gill, I do not soo why any objections should! bo raised as regards travailing by rail at? night. IF people can travel by sea at night,) and put up with the ebanco of suffering from seasickness, surely thoro aro buwdr«d&-~per-»' haps thousandswho will gladly avaß $4cm-i selves of the- oppofhtwity to tmw?J fey hmd,, and thus escape tho dreaded "matefe-incT.'M; Certainly; the present stylo of carriage* and? '■ the whole railway system Will havo to bo considerably improved, and altered ft) «om« extent. Sleeping acconawo«h»*i«Ti ..wjjl have*, , to be- furnished, and in this respect- mo prosent style of carriages are vat mi date, 1 remember when travelling from Sydney to ! Melbourne I was colled upon to pay an cx-» tra 12s 6tl for sleeping aecor»modrirfj'ou in a carriage which was spnoiflJly fitted tip for that purpose, but I con'id not fall in with V that at all, seeing that I had already paid? my fare right through. In India the carriages are built so thai the scats may bo used m bunks, and there aro upper bunk* as well, hinged from the shies of the car« rtago, and suspended from the cowng by. two chains. A passenger, by simply calling at the stafionmastcr's offieo, can reserve any' of th<>*o '"bunks"— or tower—without; any extra charge. The, Indian railway carriages are about 50ft long by ISft wide, and one of these could hold sleeping accommodation for 16 passengers. There : -> another item I wish to draw the attention of the railway authorities to. Should arrangement* bo made for {-looping accommodation, the system of having the tickets continuallv punched by the guard, who comes into too carriage so frequently with "tickets please," will have to be done awny with. It is bad, enough to have to produce your ticket at! frequent intervals in tho davtimo. I cart; picture the guard rousing a sleeping passenger with "ticket please." and I leavo your readers to picture tho rest! Radical changes will have to bo made in tho way system ere lorn.?. \\*.