TROOP TRAIN WAS HEATED

Timaru Herald, Volume CLVIII, Issue 23322, 4 October 1945, Page 4

TROOP TRAIN WAS HEATED

Minister Replies To Allegation Doors And Windows Opened On Cold Night (FOPR.) WELLINGTON, Oct- 3. Allegations by the Dunedin branch of the National Council of Women that there was a lack of heating facilities in the special train run from Christchurch to Dunedin on Sunday, September 2, for servicemen who returned by the Rangitiki are denied by the Minister of Railways (the Hon. R. Semple) in a letter to the Minister of Defence (the Hon. F. Jones). Mr Semple has sent a copy of the letter to Mr P. G. Connolly (Government, Dunedin West). Mr Semple explains that the train consisted of seven carriages, all of which were equipped for steam heating. His inquiries showed that the heating operated satisfactorily in all cars for the full journey from Christchurch to Dunedin and that no complaints were made to the guards of the train that the heating was in any waydeficient. The night was particularlv cold, with snow and frost in places and the continual opening of doors and windows at various stopping places, no doubt, had the effect of cooling the interior of the carriages Mr Semple added that the matter of providing the best accommodation possible for returning servicemen was always given careful attention, but in this particular instance much of the benefit that should have been derived from the steam heating system was lost through the action of servicemen in continually opening car windows and doors at a time when conditions outside were particularly bitter and cold.