THE WAIRARAPA RAILWAY.

New Zealand Mail, Issue 1180, 12 October 1894, Page 19

THE WAIRARAPA RAILWAY.

The Wellington-Wairarapa railway service is not up to much, to judge from what Mr Hogg said on Wednesday in the House. He drew a doleful picture of the experiences of passengers on that section of railway. The carriages on the line, he said, are antiquated, and neither smoke-proof nor weather-proof. The journey from the Wairarapa side up the Eimutaka is pursued at a snail’s pace through a number of tunnels, where the oil lamps are frequently extinguished on account of the smoke, and where the carriages are almost continually full of smoke and sulphur fumes. Then on the down side the train is allowed to travel at a break-neck pace, like a drunken switch-back, and the whole journey is of a most disagreeable character. The seats are hard, the paint is worn off, the floors appear to be never swept. The time between Wellington and Masterton varies from four hours ten minutes to four hours and a-half, and the time between Wellington and Eketahuna —ninety miles —occupies five hours and a-half. There is a station at nearly every dairy and every large residence on the route. In consequence of all this, Mr Hogg says, the passenger traffic is very much diminished, and he asked yesterday whether it is proposed to introduce more powerful locomotives and more comfortable passenger cars on that railway? The Premie a read the reply of the Railway Commissioners to the effect that provision is being made as opportunity occurs and funds permit for better locomotives and cars. Three new saloon carriages will be placed on the line shortly, and the time-table is also b. ing revised as opportunity presents itself.