SYDNEY’S NEW THRILL

Taranaki Daily News, 7 January 1927, Page 9

SYDNEY’S NEW THRILL

THE UNDERGROUND RAILWAY. RUSH FOR “THE FIRST TICKET.” l Sydney, Dee. 30. Already the novelty of travelling on the railway that runs under Sydney is wearing off. During the 24 hours following its opening more than 40,000 people used the railway. Not a few of them, especially holiday-makers from the country, did so out of a spirit of auventure. But more and more Sydney is becoming to accept Australia’s underground railway as a matter of form, and is anxiously awaiting the, day, far distant, it is feared, when it will be able to travel, not merely on a section of tae line, as at present, but along the whole length of it right round the city. The entrances to and exits from the stations are at present temporary rude iron and wooden structures, wholly out of keeping with the magnificence of the appointments as one descends to the platforms. There was an extraordinary rush among people anxious to claim the distinction of being the first to buy a ticket to travel on the underground. The honour fell to a bus conductor in one of the suburbs. It was richly deserved, too, for he left his home, in dismal rain, at 2 a.m., and was at the ticket office at St. James’ Station, in Hyde, Park, an hour later. Among those who arrived at an extraordinarily early hour were family parties and among them not a few children. The bus conductor, however, was too smart for them.

The faces of the first passengers as the pioneer train swep; into a tunnel under one of Sydney’s biggest emporiums, were a study. The majority smiled. It was a new thrill. A few s.emed slightly nervous. Others read their papers without apparent interest, -amid the brilliant lighting of the platforms and trains, the impression, even in the early hours of the morning, is that of travelling in the depth of night.