THE ROTORUA EXPRESS.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 212, 1 June 1908, Page 7

THE ROTORUA EXPRESS.

—— o — ! §OME COMPARISONS. : . . '' (BT iELEQEAPHrr-SFECIAL' CORRESPONDENT.) '' ' Auckland, May 30. The allegation made by a visitor to a Wellington newspaper that the Rotorua- express was, the dirtiest and slowest in the Dominion is naturally denied by the Railway Department. An offipcr of the Department, seeii yesterday, claimed that the Rotorua express equalled in speed any other in the Dominion., Tho railway time-table showsi that the journey of 171 miles from Auckland to, Rotorua takes/7 hoiirs SO minutes; while from New Plymouth to:Longburn Junction, IGB, miles,- the Wellington express.takes 8 hours 36 minutes; and from Christchurch to Hampden, 174 miles, the, schedule run of the first express is 6 hours 38 minutes. At it might be said that run omits any heavy grades, the-journey. from Dunedin to Asliburtori may bo taken, and that includes the heavy grades between Dunodin -and Waikouaiti. The distance is 178 milesj and the time 7 hours 15 minutes, or half-'an-hour 1 less and seven miles more than tho Auckland-Rotorua run; while tho Bun-edin-Invereargill express runs its 139 miles at a timc-tablo which would work out at' under soven hours for 171 miles. . A " Herald" representative, who has just returned from a visit to Dunedin, found the southern trains better appointed in very -many .respects than tho Rotorua express, arid of* much brighter appearance generally, while the dining cars on tho southern lines are a long way ahead of those provided on the North Island lines. Even allowing for the fact that the light lands and pumico country on the route of the Rotorua train naturally make the journey more dusty than on any of tho South'lsland express rnis, the passenger rolling .stock in appeararico and appointment is far behind that of tho southern expresses.