UNCOMFORTABLE EXPRESSES.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXII, Issue 18950, 23 February 1925, Page 7

UNCOMFORTABLE EXPRESSES.

Sir, —While we appreciate what tha Railway Department has recently done to speed np trains and run mors to suit the public, I should like to direct attention to the uncomfortable and crowded seating accommodation on oar ' expresses. The first-class is or;].v superior second at the best. The second-class seats are top near together and too upright, and pro only suitable for suburban traffic. Women and children are poorly catered for. A little spent in the right direction would add to the comfort andi pleasure of travelling considerably. Front a health point of view also, in the interests of ordinary decency, some reform is urgently required. The, travelling public would not mind paying a little more for value received. It has been suggested that it would be better to have oply one class, and those who required sleepers could have them by paying extra. As the roads improve most tourists will traveil by car. Even now often the first-class cars are half empty, while the seconds are overcrowded. The night expresses should consist of about 80 pes cent, sleepers instead- of, as at present, about 25 percent. In a democratic country like this we should -expect something better. It would appear that the department intentionally makes as wide a line of demarkation between the first and second as possible. This is wrong in principle, and there should be no reason in the wide world why the majority of travellers should be debarred the ordinary comforts which should be provided at a reasonable cost. It will pay the Government not only to consider the tourist, but to consider our own people in the matter of quick, reasonable ana comfortable travelling. Hamilton. William Hobbs.