MORE MONEY ABOUT.

Star (Christchurch), Volume LXVI, Issue 20509, 10 January 1935, Page 10

MORE MONEY ABOUT.

Railway Figures Show Large Increases. Like the totalisator, the number of people travelling on the railways during any holiday period is generally accepted as a financial barometer which indicates the amount of ready money which is in circulation. This has been plainly indicated- by the local railway finances during the four-weekly period ended Saturday, January 5. There has been a particularly large number of passengers travelling, and last year’s figures have been considerably exceeded. As the final Clearing station for reserved seat booking, the North Island included, tl}e central booking office in the city and the main office at the station have handled 20,000 reservations. When asked if the majority of the people were travelling second-class, the official replied: “Oh. no. There has been a marked increase in first-class travellers, particularly over long distance journeys. I think more people have travelled first-class during these holidays than has been the case for a number of years. The second-class figures, too, show a considerable inTaking “ local reserved seat bookings ” alone for the four-weekly period ended last Saturday, the central booking office and main station office have shoT/n an increase of close oa 2000 over the same period last j-ear. For the four weeks there was an increase of 1360 local reservations applied for at the booking office, and the increase at the main station was 534 over last year.