RAILWAY TRAFFIC

Press, Volume LXIII, Issue 18891, 5 January 1927, Page 6

RAILWAY TRAFFIC

A BUSY PERIOD

POPULAR SERVICES.

Holiday traffic on the railways has given a fillip in the case of certain lines and new services and., it is hoped by the Department's officials that a permanent improvement will result. Figures illustrating the increased passenger bookings were supplied to a reporter yesterday. Over a period covering 25 days, the number travelling on the new Parnassus express averaged 60 per trip in either direction. For the holiday period an average of 26 passengers was carried every trip by the electric battery carriage which is running daily to Little Biver. This was ascertained by compiling a total of the number on 57 trips. As the car makes four trips a aay, it is thus the means of transport for over 100 people. On one or two occasions it was found necessary to accommodate as many aB 80 passengers, although the car was built to carry only 60. Yesterday 902 travelled to Christchurch from Lyttelton by the morning ferry train. The three expresses for the south took 1125, this number being made up as follows: —5.50 a,m., 500; 9.10 a.m., 181; and 12.20 p.m., 444. In the morning 566 took out tickets to Lyttelton.

Numerous Excursions. Never previously has the Department had so much work in providing trains for excursions as during the past few weeks. It recently employed an officer on making a canvass for this kind of business, and his efforts proved very successful. In both January and February there will be days on which several picnic trains will run. In fact, the orders received for carriages for next month are unprecedented, as many as 85 having been reserved for one day. The special excursion trains in January, with the estimated nnmber to travel by them, are at follows:

January 13th—Waimate Friendly Societies to Timaru, two trains, 1650. 20th—New Zealand Breweries, Ltd., to Motukarara, 700. 22nd-*-City Council yard staff to Little Eiver, 700; City Council office staff to Lyttelton, 150; Municipal Electricity Department to Stewart's Gully, 250; tramway engineers to Motukarara, 200.

23rd—Canterbury Commercial Travellers' and Warehousemen's Association to Otira, 500. 26th—Publio Service Association to Lyttelton, 200; Lyttelton Waterside Workers' Union to Leeston, 650; Harbour Board's employees to Ashburton, 650.

27th —Gas Company's employees to Kaiapoi, 450. 29th—Tlmaru Friendly Societies to Waimate, 500; bakers to Tiinaru, two trains, 2000; grocers to Ashburton, 1500; T. H. Green and Co. to Motukarara, 150; Dominion Compressed Yeast Company to Stewart's Gully, 100; J. J. Niven and Co. to Motukarara, 150.

[THE PEEBB BjeeUl Berries.] WELLINGTON, January 4. The total number of passenger tickets sold from Wellington booking offices from December Ist, 1926, to January 3rd, 1927, shows * falling off of 7001 as compared with the same period last year. There was a big increase in the long distance bookings and the falling off was in the shorter trips. This is attributed to the increased use of. the motor-car for the shorter distances.