ROTORUA TRAIN SERVICE.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXII, Issue 19171, 10 November 1925, Page 8

ROTORUA TRAIN SERVICE.

With all the changes that are being made in train services over the lines south of Auckland, the Railway Department has not yet realised that Rotorua needs something better than an express timetable which makes the passenger devote a whole day to travelling to the railhead. It seems to forget Taupo and the Bay of Plenty, lying beyond. People do not want to spend hours in Auckland waiting for a train which will leave at half-past ten in the morning. The proposed daylight limited offers an excellent service. Travelling by it, a passenger could be in Frank ton only a few minutes after the time of departure of the Rotorua express from Auckland. Then by leaving the railway for the road, he could reach Taupo the same day. This would mean loss of revenue for the railways, and-loss of trade for Rotorua. The people running motor services are always on the watch for opportunities, as the department knows to its cost. If the institution of the daylight limited, unaccompanied by a revision of the Eotorua express time-table, gives the motor-car a new opportunity to-carry people to Taupo, the department cannot blame them for seizing it. The present arrangement of a 10.30 a.m. express may suit the leisured few who do not want an early start, but catering for them hardly promises the greatest profit to the railways. If. on the contrary, the Rotorua express were despatched a couple of hours earlier, a few of its numerous stops eliminated, and the passenger landed at his destination early in the afternoon, the best interests of the public and the railways would be served. The full journey to Taupo might be completed in the day by the route most profitable to the railways and to Rotorua. People travelling to the Bay of Plenty and adjacent districts would also be better suited. The Railway Department has done very well by instituting the new limited express to Wellington, but it should realise that other improvements are thereby made more obviously necessary. Chief among the time-tables demanding attention is that of the Rotorua express.