MOTORS OUSTING TRAINS?

Press, Volume LXI, Issue 18365, 24 April 1925, Page 4

MOTORS OUSTING TRAINS?

A STRIKE AFTERMATH. Two years ago there was only one line ojf communication Ibetweeh Wellington and tho districts of Petone and 'Lower Hutt—the railway. As Petoiio is the home of one of the Dominion's biggest workshops, and Lower Hutt perhaps the most favoured residental areas of professional and commercial Wellington—to-day its population incidentally has passed-the 0000 mark—it is . obvious that the N.Z.R. must have grown fat, so to speak, on the monoplpy." But the lean years axe upon that once profitable Hue. Listen again to ".Roadster's" informant :

"To anyone who is as familiar with the Hutt district as I am and who has had the opportunity of observing its progress on frequent occasions in tho pa&t'ten years, the latest and most striking development would be tho rapid rise of the motor' as the great rival'of -the-.-train. It is particularly interesting when • one lias fresh in his mind tho situation that has arisen in our own city following the entry of ihe buses where once tho trams held their full and autocratic sway. There are now three bus services running continuously between these distircts seven days of-the week, one going to ' Petone, and the others touching Lower Hutt and tho more inland. Taita.

To those who have been accustomed to the suburban train, in spite of its convenient half-hour service, it is quite a welcome change to' find, one-! self taken right into tiTe heart of the townships, baggage and all. and not put to the extra expense of taking a bus from the railway station. Perhaps their smiles would be described by the cynical as "silvery," but one must really pay a tribute to the courtesy of the drivers, to whom nothing seems to bo too much trouble. I understand that the buses got their great opportunity during the railway striko. They took people to the- city at the ordinary train rates when no trains were running and have retained most of their patrons' ever hince. The difference in fares amounts to-dav to one penny onlv. The only regulars who now patronise the trains to any extent are the workers, who benefit by the concession tickets."