RAILWAY TIME-TABLE

New Zealand Times, Volume XXXII, Issue 7047, 8 February 1910, Page 9

RAILWAY TIME-TABLE

WAIRABAPA PROTESTS.. REASONS ADVANCED FOR AN ALTERATION. A PATHETIC’ INCIDENT. rBOH CUR OWN CORRESPONDENT. MASTERTON' February 7. The Faiuatua Chamber ,of Commerce is the latest public .body to interest itself iu the recent alteration of the railway time-table, and it has passed . the following resolution :— cc That the Minister of Railways be strongly urged to reinstate the old morning train from Masterton, which : left at 6.30 o’clock, and whioh passed through Pahiatua at 9 o’clock; that a train should run to connect with the. Main Trunk trains north and south, at-Pal-,: merston North; and, further, there should be no unnecessary delays at Wpodville and Palmerston North.” And yet, notwithstanding tile protests that are, made daily along the whole of this part of the island the Minister of Railways says that it is only Mas-ter-ton and Bketahuna people who are objecting to the time-table. Practically every resident between Palliser Bay .and Napier is condemning the present statd of affairs. The inconvenience and loss which the whole of the Wairarapa and Forty-mile Bush is suffering through the altered timetable is simply, scandalous. . One or two incidents only need bo cited in order to bear this out. For instance* pupils attending country who obtain proficiency certificates entitling them to two years' free education at a district high school are now unable to avail themselves of the opportunity of improving their education owing to train arrangements preventing ' them from reaching their destination till some hours after school lias-opened for the day. The large number of pupils who came from the north to attend the Masterton district higli school cannot non- reach Masterton till 1. o’clock in the afternoon, while the free pupils who attended the Greytown secondary classes are even worse off. What is the result’ of ■ this bungling? Simply that the children drift away to employment before their education is completed, and are ’robbed of benefits which they have worked hard for at school, through apparent incoinpctoncy in framing a railway time-table. Then, again, farmers cannot get their produce and sheep to market with anything like regularity, there being insufficient trains and lack of facilities, Dairy companies are put to inconvenience, and also suffer loss, through not being able to get the cream from their creameries to the main factories aspromptly as formerly; the travelling public are caused no end of annoyance, inconvenience and loss owing to passenger trains being turned into goods trains and rarely running up to time, being on many occasions an hour or more lato. The annoyance that is suffered by those travelling on trains as a result of the lack . of punctuality is exemplified in the following incident; — Two or three weeks ago a resident of

tffo Wiairanapa received word that hi* daughter, in Christchurch was dying. Ho hastened to Masterton in order to take train to Wellington and catch the steamer, for . Ohristchuroh the same evening. The train arrived at Mastent on twenty-five minutes late, and lost more time before, it Croso Greek. The gentleman in question on' his way down telegraphed to the-ship-ping company, engaging a berth; Thera were also some fourteen other passen- ; gars on tibo train desirous of reaching Christchurch by the' steameri ,leaving 7> ellixLgtcn that evening, - ■ and so 1 aui- - ions were they becoming about missing Hie (boat that a telegram was dispatch-: ed to Wellington to the shipping company and a reply .received that the steamer would he delayed twenty-five minutes. Anxiety wan turned to despair when the train was bowling along the sea front after leaving Peters, the lights of the steamer being seen os she proceeded down the i harbour. : The gentleman aforementioned had to, stay in Wellington that night, and next day - received a telegram that his daughter had died three-quarters of an hour after the steamer. had arrived at Lyttelton, and she, knowing that ho was to come by the boat, had cried out piteously to the last for him I If the old time-table had 1 (been in vogue there would have been ample time to catch the steamer, e. father would have boon able, to see his dying daughter, ‘ nod fourteen other passengers would hare been saved the inconvenience and expense of staying a day in Wellington. This is, no doubt, only one of many; Instances which could bo quoted. Tho stopping of trains on the Rimutaha' '

Incline, which has oocurred with monotonous regularity recently, is duo t to the present time-table, ns the department cannot deal properly with the goods traffic and have to utilise passenger trains for the purpose of relieving to some extent the congested state of affairs. I have been informed that a movement is on foot to held simultaneous meetings of protest against the present timo-taiMo in the various centres in the Wairarapa and Forty-mile Bush. If Masterton's ■ Mayor wore olive to the soriousnesb of the position he would have taken a course similaJ to this long ago, and have called together public meetings for the purpose of protesting strenuously against tilt present time-table.