THE NIGHT EXPRESSES.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 20433, 13 June 1928, Page 8

THE NIGHT EXPRESSES.

The winter months hardly admit of a fair test of the support the public is prepared to accord to the night express service between Christchurch and Invercargill which has been inaugurated this week. Most people avoid travelling during the winter as much as they can. But the number of passengers that have been already attracted by the night expresses at this season of the year justifies the belief that the service will later on prove highly popular. Nor will it be at all surprising if this proves to be the case. Day travelling by train for business purposes is virtually a thing of the past in other parts of the world. Time is valuable even in countries where a great deal of it is devoted to the pursuit of sport. It may even be that the demands of pleasure necessitate that special care shall be taken to utilise to the fullest advantage the time that is applied to business. There is, at any rate, no doubt that the time which they have had to spend in travelling by rail during the day has been grudged by business people and professional men. The institution of an express train by which they can travel in comfort at night confers a distinct boon on them. It should, in fact, give an impetus to railway travelling that should be reflected in the financial returns which are, in present circumstances, so greatly in need of improvement. The ideal service will, however, not be provided until there is an express train every night, so that a man can come from Christchurch to Dunedin in order to discuss a business transaction at the cost of only a single day’s absence from his office. That is the class of service which we shall be entitled to expect if the service that has now been commenced receives the liberal measure of support that is merited by it. It is greatly to be hoped that the Department, having taken a progressive step in the institution of a night express service thrice weekly, will see its way to an extension of the service, certainly next spring, so as to provide for an express train every night.