RAILWAY TRAVELLING.

Colonist, Volume LVI, Issue 13485, 3 June 1914, Page 3

RAILWAY TRAVELLING.

It is not unnatural that the collision in which the Main Trunk train was involved should raise reflections as to the occasional risks of railway travel (says the "New Zealand Herald"). It should not be forgotten, however, that in a railway train the risks are not above the average encountered by men and women every day. The New Zealand railways particularly have been rema.rk.ably free from disasters. Partly as a result of the configuration of the country, high speeds, with their concurrent risks, have never been attempted. It is well to remember sometimes when we grumble about our slow trains that if they are slow they are also safe. The peculiar characteristic of New Zealand trains would indeed appear to be that they are more dangerous to persons outside them than to passengers inside. The neglect of the Railway Department to protect users of, public highways against the known dangers of level-crossings is the most' serious blot on our railways administration and is responsible for a long series of accidents. It would almost seem, indeed, as if the Railway Department regarded users of the road as natural enemies avlio do so at their own risk and who have no rights.