EASTER HOLIDAY RUSH ON RAILWAYS REACHING PEAK PERIOD TODAY

Wanganui Chronicle, 14 April 1949, Page 4

EASTER HOLIDAY RUSH ON RAILWAYS REACHING PEAK PERIOD TODAY

The Easter holiday rush on the railways began this week and will reach its peak today, when live express trains, three of them extras, will run each way between Wellington and Auckland. All expresses on the Main Trunk tonight, however, ace already fully booked, with the exception of one leaving Wellington at 3.42 p.m. A relief express will also leave Wanganui at 11.55 a.m. today for Wellington and a special night train, leaving Wellington at 10 p.m., will run to Wanganui and New Plymouth.

Advance bookings for travel over the Easter holiday period are again very heavy, and on many long-dis-tance trains only limited accommodation is available. First-class seats on most express trains have already been reserved well ahead. Traffic will be particularly heavy on the Main Trunk.

No comparison between the present and previous Easters will be possible till after the returns have been completed, but the volume of bookings indicates that this Easter will be equally as busy as others. Easter is a heavier period for the railways than Christmas and New Year because traffic is spread over a shorter period. The outward rush has scarcely been handled when the inward rush begins. This means that throughout the long Easter week-enn. starting tonight and concluding on Tuesday, long-distance trains will be much heavier than usual. On the Wellington-Wanganui-New Plymouth line, express trains are run. ning daily between today and Saturday, April 23, Sundays excepted. So far, accommodation is still available on all these expresses, but in m.si cases is limited to second-class only, first-class seats having already been booked

A southbound relief express leaves Wanganui at 11.55 a.m. today, Monday and Tuesday. The relief express from Wellington to Wanganui runs on Monday and Tuesday. A night special, arranged for the convenience of people working late in shops and offices today, leaves Wellington at 10 p.m. for New Plymouth. A return train from New Plymouth 1o Wellington leaves the Taranaki terminal at 9.35 p.m. on Easter Monday. Connecting trains will run between Wanganui and Aramoho for both these specials. Train services tomorrow (Good Friday) will be reduced to a skeleton timetable which will be limited to the principal expresses and mixed trains connecting with them. Goods sheds will be closed tomorrow, Saturday, and again on Easter Monday. Freight traffic, except perishable, will be suspended on these days.