"LADIES ONLY."

Colonist, Volume LVIII, Issue 14539, 17 October 1917, Page 7

"LADIES ONLY."

NEW CARS ON EXPRESS TRAINS

SEVERAL RAILWAY INNOVATIONS

(From Our Parliamentary Correspondent.) Wellington, Oct. 16. The Railway Department lias decided to provide on tho long-distance man 'tra"ins si>ecial cars for ladies only. In the case of the North Island Main Trunk line the cans will carry a female attendant. The Department has been able to meet this need of the public through the discontinuance of the dining cars placing at its disposal fifteen cars in. tne North • Island and six in the South Island. This Avill enable special ladies' carriages to be provided, and also a generous extension of the sleeping car accommodation. One of the fir.st of the ladies' carriages was shown to you.v correspondent in Wellington, it resembles tlie •usual type of main. line, carriages- in its passenger accommodation, but, a/larger^ space tiian usual is set aside in tho centre for an attendant's cabin, and roomy lavatory accommodation, with an ample supply of mirrors. "Ladies only" is the announcement at each end of the coach, while at the centre tho doors are to be locked except to the attendant. The idea of this arrangement is to 'prevent the exasperating habit of some passengers who wander through the train when'others wish to sleep. In the attendant's compartment is a «*tvs rin £> which mothers will find handy in providing hot drinks for young children. Ono end of the car is devoted to second class and the other end to first-class passengers, who \ will have separate lavatory accommo- j dation. No extra charge is to bo made for the use of these carriages. The Railway Department has decided to provide a. woman attendant during tho night running of the Auckland expresses, and it believes that this will I give parents and guardians more confidence when sending children unat- ' tended on long journeys. As quickly as the dining cars can be converted to I their new purpose, they will be placed '. on the Napier and New Plymouth mail trains and the through expresses be.-' 1 tween Ohvistchi^rcb. and Dunedin. j Some of the old dining, cars are to ibe converted into.. ..two-berth sleepers i for the North Island Main Trunk exj presses. There is a big demand for

two-berth sleepers, and the new ones will avoid a fault of the original design, which gave too little space in the two-berth compartment. Catering on a large scale is now undertaken by the Railway Department, which conducts the railway refreshment rooms at Asllburton in the South Island and Marton Junction, Pahnerston North, Mercer, Frankton Junction, and Hawera in the North. It is remarkable how easy the public adapted itself to the changes due to withdrawal of tho dining cars. Probably this can be explained by the efficiency of the new system. Breakfast for the Auckland-Wellington express passengers is served at Marton Junction in a dining hall capable of simultaneously seating the whole trAn load of passengers. There is time for the meal, and also for a "spruce up" after the night journey, ample facilities for this purpose being available. They constitute a pleasant alternativ.to the old system of washing in the cramped space on the train. Whiio the passengers aro at breakfast, the railway statf cleans i:.p the carriages.

int> uunuiugs mi iuui ton lnciiiue accommodation for a large- «taff of waitresses, a depot for supplies for the North Island refreshment rooms, a patent bakery where the Department will make all the bread and pastry for its catering business, and cool storage for meat, milk and other perishable food.