EXPRESS STOPS

Southland Times, Issue 19575, 12 June 1925, Page 9

EXPRESS STOPS

LEVIN CUT OUT. MINISTER REPLIES TO CRITICISM. (Per United Press Association.) LEVIN, June 10. | The Prime Minister attended a crowded j meeting held in Levin to-night to protest against the Railway Department’s action . in excluding Levin from the list of stop- ; ping places for express trains, a privilege enjoyed for the past 20 years. j The Mayors of Levin and Foxton, and I Chamber of Commerce and Local Bodies’ i representatives put their views before Mr ’ Coates, asserting that no .other town of the ; same size in the Dominion was being so unjustly treated, and that country people , were being penalised in the interests of i through passengers. ' In reply, Mr Coates said that the Depart- . ment was out to consider the interests of 1 the people as a whole, and the expresses i were primarily for Hawkas Bay and Tar I anaki. He offered to allow one up express •1o Napier to stop at Levin, and also to | speed up the evening train to Wellington. ■' He also thought that the mail services, I which had been interfered with by the cut, ■ could be improved. i Replying to a suggestion that the ex--1 presses could be speeded up to enable a i local stop, the Minister said he felt desper- ; ately nervous about asking the Department to exceed the safety factor agreed on by the Department’s experts. It only wanted one big accident to happen, and *the railways would be pinned down to a certain mileage per hour. He felt a personal responsibility in the matter. “Please don’t bring in the political stunt,” said the Minister to an interjecter who suggested resort to political action. “It. Is not wbrth twopence as far as I’m concerned. It makes my blood boil to think that anybody should think such argumente can weigh i with a Minister on the Railway Board.”— | (Applause).