CENTRAL OTAGO TIME-TABLE.

Otago Witness, Issue 2902, 27 October 1909, Page 52

CENTRAL OTAGO TIME-TABLE.

MAY AKKKC'T TOi ::i.-T TRAFFIC DISCONTENT -X ' ROM WELL. The alt»ratif. -'■',' C-,tial Oia- ) s nilway hmo nlih. '■■. .■ ll ctiip into foic-e on Nove;i.i>" • ■.!•■ n-^yiJcd vr-iv 1111favourablv r-v >.. • 1 '■•oplo of ('■oin««»Il ..iid district. At th^ j)io c °f>T time ill* 1 t'.un leaves Cljdo daily for Dunedin at 355 a.m., and the ooaeh, in order to connect with the train, takes its departuie at 6 30 Under the new arierigernent, liowevei. the train is timed to leave 35 minutes earlioi —

1 at 3.20 o'clock, — and tho coach, therefore, ■ ' has also to inak3 a start 35 minutes earlier I — that is. at five minutes to 6 I On Monday a, Times importer had a short j conveisation with Messrs H. H Leary and 1 J. M. Sutheiland (secietary and driver respecthelv for Messrs H. Craig and Co. mail coach proprietors, who contiol, among other line^, the Crii.iwell-Civdc traffic). Both eentlemon "sr&tcd empliaticalK that the alteration in the running of the coaches brought about by fiie now timetable was gome to senouslv affect the tourist traffic via Clyde from the lakes district. Mr Leary said ho knew ihs- district well, and was sure he voiced the sentiments of the people there. During the summer month* Cromwell and Clyde benefited considerably bj reason of the stream of travellers who. hay inn aim ed via Queenstown, were pleased to return to the main railway line by Clyde, thus widening the scope of their sightseeing. But the tourist? a« a i ulo were j/eisotis who always sought to study their own comfort so far as was possible, and it was, verj doubtful, thought Mr Leary, whether they would consider tho journey by Clyde worth the discomfort arid inconvenience of having to ) ise at oi before 5 o'clock in t!i3 morning in order to travel fiom Cromwell to Clyde by the one and only . coach cf ths day. Half-post 6 (the pre-ent hour of starling) had bo-e'i unsuitable enough; five minutos before 6 - would in all piobability «end a meat propoidon of tho tourists back via Queenstown. Apart from tho tourist traffic, tho j>soplo of the district feel that thoy have a grievance. At tho present time the pace of the (.Vntral Ot.'^o train is nondeifully and <-th-corclifianl.v *].ny, und this, declare Messrs Lsary and Sutherland, is due to •■ > long and frequent, and not by any means necessary, storage' that are made en the journey. It is now proposed that tho journej shall take half an hour longer, but even to this th-e Cromwell people would not object if ihey vroie noi asked to bear the whole of the inconvenience thus called. Why, they ask. should tho train not start from Clyde as usual, and reach Dunedin at a quarter past 6 p.m., instead of 5.43 a^ at prosent? This would prove a souroe of trouble to no one. Another argument in favour of a more convenient train service >vas that it would tend to oncourag-? people to pass to and fro inoi c freely, which must a«sist in t,he attainment of that [mal desideratum — the owning up of the back country Bor'i q-entlemc-r: thought thj£ Dunedin people might a--ssist Cromwell in this matter, and i-ee whether an attempt could not be made to arrange the Central Otago time-table upon a moie satisfactory basis.