MOSGIEL TRAINS

Otago Daily Times, Issue 26416, 21 March 1947, Page 6

MOSGIEL TRAINS

TRAVELLERS’ COMPLAINTS NOT BASED ON FACT STATEMENT BY RAILWAYS MANAGER The complaints of regular travellers regarding the late departure of Dun-edip-Mosgiel trains, which formed the basis of an article in the Daily Times yesterday, were stated by the District Traffic Manager of the Railways Department, Mr T, Johnston, to be inaccurate, and he pointed out that no specific dates were given. The following statement was made by Mr Johnston to the Daily Times in this connection:— “A check of the performances of all Dunedin-Mosgiel trains from March 3-15 inclusive indicates that the statement made that it is commonplace for trains to leave Dunedin station 10 minutes behind their scheduled de-. parture time, and on occasion from 20 to 40 minutes late, is not quite correct. During the fortnight reviewed, the running of these trains was satisfactory, as, with the exception of three trains, all ran practically on time. Minor Exceptions “The exceptions were as follows: The 4.48 p.m. train on March 6 was five minutes late from Dunedin owing to the late running of the Christ-church-Invercargill express. On Saturday, March 8, the 12.15 p.m. train was 15 minutes late from Dunedin owing to the engine developing a defect. On Monday, March 3, the 5.15 p.m. tram was three minutes, on March 6 11 minutes and on March 10 14 minutes late owing to difficulty experienced in obtaining engines. The density of goods traffic at this period necessitated many special trains and all engines available were in service. It was necessary for engines arriving off incoming trains to be immediately switched to outgoing /trains and in the instances quoted above, a little delay was experienced in servicing the engine. “Of the 118 trains which ran to Mosgiel during the fortnight under review, only 10 were late from Dunedin for periods varying from three to 14 minutes. It is regretted that the train which suffered the most delay was the 5.15 p.m., but every effort was made to meet the difficult situation which developed owing to the heavy demand for engines for special goods trains. Not Substantiated “No recent incident of a passenger train being detained in the Caversham tunnel for 20 minutes can be recalled. Occasionally a train is held at the signal outside Mosgiel waiting the departure of an incoming train but in very few instances does this delay amount to more than two or three minutes. The statement that delays are an almost nightly occurrence is not substantiated by the performances of the trains during the period and the public can be assured that every effort is made to run the trains to schedule. “ The District Traffic Manager would be pleased if aiiy passenger who has a complaint to make regarding the running of any particular train would get in touch with him, either personally or by letter, when inquiries will immediately be made into the matter.”