RUSH FOR TRAINS

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 89, Issue 303, 24 December 1945, Page 5

RUSH FOR TRAINS

WILD SYDNEY SCENES

RACEGOERS STAMPEDE THE TRAINS

LIMITED TRANSPORT CAUSES MUCM INCONVENIENCE Recd. 10 p.m. Sydney, Dec. 23. Sensational scenes at the Central Railway Station, when women fainted, children w ere lost and people knocked .down in the crowds, were witnessed yesterday. Railway officials struggled Ito cope with the worst jam they have ever experienced, particularly to protect the mothers of children, who fared badly in the rushes for trains. The curtailed rail service was insufficient to transport the terrific crowds. Overflows from some trains waited up to four hours. Railway officials said some people found th? going sr rough that tjiey went home. One official said: “People were like wild beasts.”

Another stampede occurred yesterday afternoon when Randwick racegoers stormed the main paddock gates immediately after the last race, causing one of the biggest jams in Sydney racing history. The crowd swept aside the 20 police on duty in an attempt to gain seats i n th? limited transport* available. Thousands were forced to walk back to the city. Trams took the people to the racecourse, but all the tram traffic stopped for the week-end at 2 p.m.