SPEEDING UP TRAINS

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXI, Issue 21781, 21 April 1934, Page 13

SPEEDING UP TRAINS

THE NORTHERN LTNE IMPROVED GOODS SCHEDULES « SEVERAL CHANGES MADE A general' speeding up of train services on Northern lines has been arranged by the Railway Department, and will take effect from April 30. Special attention has been given to the suburban services between Auckland and Waitakere, and the overall time of trains between the two places will be reduced, on the average, by seven minutes. This reduction has not been possible, however, in the case of heavv workers' trains. An innovation will be the attachment of a passenger car to the night goods service for the North. This train will in future maintain a faster schedule, leaving Auckland at 10.48 p.m. Mondays to Fridays, and arriving at Wliangarei at 8 a.m. The train at present runs only as far as Maungaturoto. and the new arrangement will result in goods reaching Whangarei two and ahalf hours earlier than previously. ' Marked improvement will also be made in the goods services to Otiria, Opua and Kaikohe, which will, in many cases, result in goods arriving as much as 24 hours earlier, through not having to remain at Whangarei overnight. Another improvement in the goods service will be the introduction of a train leaving Whangarei for Auckland at 12.5 p.m. to relievo pressure on the present 3.20 p.m. train. 'J he 9 a.m. Whangarei-Auckland mixed train will, however, be discontinued between Whangarei and Helensville. Passenger trains which will in future maintain faster schedules are the 4.5 p.m. Auckland-Whangarei train, which will arrive, at Whangarei at 10.40 p.m., 36 minutes earlier, and the express from Opua, which will reach Auckland at 5.29 p.m., three minutes earlier. Another change which is to be made in the Northern services is the institution of a provisional stopping place at Sturgess Road, between Ranui and Henderson, at which a number of suburban trains will in future take up and set down passengers. The retention of the stop will depend on the volume of passenger traffic offering. Simultaneously with 'the increase in the speed of services, a number of staffing changes will be made which will effect considerable savings. Numerous detailed adjustments to train schedules as a result of the new arrangements will be announced shortly.