RAILWAY TRAFFIC.

Waikato Times, Volume 109, Issue 18255, 17 February 1931, Page 3

RAILWAY TRAFFIC.

INCREASE IN BUSINESS. HAWKE’S BAY RETURNS. The Manawatu Standard says:— Inquiries regarding the additional railway traffic caused by the earthquake elicited some interesting information. On account of its position as a transhipping centre and junction, the Palmerston North railway station has handled an immense amount of traffic. The destruction of the Hawke’s Bay freezing works was a contributing factor. During the last few days strings of VB wagons have conveyed 49,500 carcases of frozen mutton aggregating J 320 tons. There has been a great quantity of stone fruit brought to Palmerston North for transhipping to New Plymouth, Hawera, Wanganui and Main Trunk stations. A peculiar result of the earthquake has 'been the phenomenal increase in the amount of benzine transported to the district. The large tank UC. wagons have been emptied and sent away for fresh supplies as rapidly as possible. The increase is attributed to the use of motor vehicles between Palmerston North and the stricken area for the transport of the refugees. The authorities are expecting a heavy rush of building materials to Hawke’s Bay within the next few weeks. With the object of re-estab-lishing their homes, Hawke’s Bay residents are also prosecuting inquiries regarding the carriage of furniture. The Railway Department will be very busy in the near future. Passenger Traffic. Although no figures are available, the passenger traffic during the past few weeks, and since the Hawke’s Bay earthquake in particular, has been particularly heavy. 'Some thousands of refugees passengers have been carried by relief trains and it has not been possible to keep a check locally. For the purpose of transporting these people, all available carriages from the Auckland, Ohakune and W'anganui districts, together with those from Wellington, were mobilised and concentrated upon Palmerston North. The yard was greatly congested with these'carriages, many of which were held in case the authorities decided on a complete evacuation of the area. The vehicles are being gradually worked back to their respective districts. For a short time after the earthquake there was a slight decrease in the number of passengers travelling by the Main Trunk expresses, but now these trains are conveying large numbers of people. It has often been necessary to add extra accommodation when the trains arrived at Palmerston North so as to bring them up to their maximum capacity. The Napier expresses are conveying large numbers of people, the majority being men who are returning to help in the rebuilding of the city. Partly as a result of transferring many of the refugees to the Taranaki province, the New Plymouth expresses have been capacity trains. The Wanganui and Hawera hookings have been the most heavy. Wellington bound trains (other than the Main Trunk expresses) have picked up many refugees at Palmerston North, quite a few being booked fiu'ough to the SouLh Island. Refugee Passes. The record of the number of free refugee passes issued at Palmerston North provides interesting reading. To date there have been 1505 of these, Ihe principal destinations being as follow: Auckland, Rotorua, Frankton, New Plymouth, Wanganui, Wellington, Christchurch, Oamaru and Dunedin. In addition, thirty passes have been issued to refugees returning to Hawke’s Bay.