HOLIDAY RUSH.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 17246, 12 January 1924, Page 8

HOLIDAY RUSH.

RAILWAY STATION SCENES. OVERCROWDED PLATFORM These' are busy days at the Christchurch Railway Station. Trains to all parts are large and the number of people travelling :s very great. The express for the south this morning " as assembled with fifteen carriages, but it was found necessary to add another carriage, making sixteen, which v,ith four vans made a total of twenty —a very large train. Owing to the delays caused by the rush of passengers, the north express was the first to get out of the station. Tne south express pulled out just after 9 o’clock. Meantime passengers who had been unable to find seats on the West Coast express were accumulating in a fretful crowd at the western end of the platform. Their wants were met by the addition of two extra carriages, giving a total of ten carriages and two vans. These, with two engines, formed a train that was just able to stand at the station without encroaching on the Colombo Street crossing. 1 he inadequacy of the accommodation at the Christchurch Railway Station has never been more apparent than during the recent holiday rush. This morning people were clambering on the front carriages of the West Coast express from the ground level owing to the fact that the train projected far beyond the station platform. Women found the task none too easy. It was necessary to wait till the north express had departed before it was possible to add the extra carriages needed to the West Coast express, for the reason that the train, thus enlarged, blocked the egress from the station of .the north express. The West Coast train got away at 9.20 With late departures and north-west winds, the lot of the engine drivers, charged with the task of keeping to a time-table, is not a happy one. A long heavy train, such as the south express, oilers a long barrier to the wind, which striking on the side, almost glues the lee wheels to the rails, making the haul exceptionally heavy. The West Coast express, which runs more directly into the wind and has the advantage of two large engines, is in a better position, despite its consistent up hill pull. It escapes the same regular pressure on one side. It is anticipated by the railway authorities that any adverse change in the weather will mean a rather sudden cessation in the traffic rush. The present heavy traffic is attributed to the fine weather luring people afleid. So far as the West Coast traffic is concerned the Hokitika Exhibition is still a strong drawing magnet. With the station crowded every day the railway officers have some diffi-

culty in dealing with those people who will persist, in spite of all warn•ngs, in taking foolish and unnecessary risks. This was very apparent this morning when extra carriages were oeing added to the south and West Coast expresses. Long before the engines had ceased shunting the carriages, people were scrambling into the still moving vehicles, regardless of the fatal consequences that would inevitably have followed on a false