NEW ZEALAND TRAINS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXIX, Issue 21153, 9 April 1932, Page 14

NEW ZEALAND TRAINS.

Sir,—"Comparisons," so the -proverb says, "are odious," but Mr. Lowe's comparison of New Zealand's trains t'hosfe of England .is saved from odium by its. grotesqueness. He certainly ough to be a little more explicit in his statements. When he speaks of the marvellous superiority of the Main Trunk an Rotorua expresses ho ought to say what, in England, ho is comparing them wit • I liavo not travelled in either of these aiid if it he true, as T am told, that t e traveller by. the limited to Wellington has only time to snatch a cup of -1 ea of two at three places on route, and arrnes at Wellington too late for breakfast, hope it may never be my fate to do> SO. Will Mr. Lowe dare to say that these trains are better than any main line.train in England, witb its corridor coache (steam-heated inlljjKnter) and restauran cars, in which may be had four-oours? breakfasts, lunches and dinners or afternoon teas? As for 4-1 ie "subsifi' al .J_ or "second-class" train in England, ought to explain what ho means hv, terms, as they are unknown to the P' l ' 1 * public in that connection. ■ We have ou suburban or local trains winch average miles per hour, including frequent or longer-distance slopping trains. J. e ~ trains are made up of coaches divined in compartments, first-class and third. no ing six and ten passengers each. Bn ° do not like the long open coach wi a central corridor and, indeed, the £ ene ',j use of a car of the Pullman type delay the traffic considerably, as it a ' longer to empty and fill. After all, comfort of tho carriage is a question taste. I have had one t"a:n -i 0 " 1 . 1 ? 0 * New Zealand.in the express from " , rei to Auckland and because ot a , hope sincerely that if ever I need to ' a to Wellington I may be able to P° t sea. ' I travelled first-class-— a t nng should not dream of doing in Eng an ' and the six hours we spent doing t ? miles or so left mo longing for tlhe .. comfort" and ''slowness" of a thire carriage, on an English, "subsidiary.I am sorry, as a visitor to your charm' ■' s land, -to criticise, anything un\ aVoUl jji but I could not let Mr. Lowe s re" go unchallenged, as I used to be A Civil EnginM®-