AN AMAZING SYSTEM.

Dominion, Volume 3, Issue 781, 2 April 1910, Page 6

AN AMAZING SYSTEM.

AUCKLAND STJBTJEBAN RAILWAYS. •":"''■■.■ PUZZLED (By Telekriph.-SBecial Correspondent) ,'. ' 'Auckland, Aprp ,1.; .Sarcastic reference to the running. : of : the, suburban , railway services is- thus, made' by tho "Herald" :VSo. many private citizens have i.yainly attempted to, understand: the ■ system. .on ; which the Auckland suburban 'railway service.iis worked-that the doubt is. beginning,: Ui grow- as'.to '.whether.the I railway oincials tlienMves really' know-.the jiey to'-the puzzle. At any rate inquiries about a particular • train- from different-officials frequently draw conflicting' -answers. On Tuesday night a' Henderson train sauntered-into its .destination, an hour and ten minutes late, probably- on' account, of the fact that races were bold on Tuesday,.at EHerslio; but business men who:did not , attend the races want : to know why they should bo inconvenienced. Then on Monday the 3.15 p.m. train on the Penrose line did not rim at all.. Again, on Tuesday night the usual crowd attended at the Auckland Station, to board thePapatoetoe trainat. 5.8, only to.find; this mysterious train which .is not scheduled on the time-table, but is nevertheless: one'of the most crowded :on the Penrose sec.tiori,"had made, an unaccountable disappearance. -It might have..made a ..trip to Mars as far as the'would-be pas-, sengers ' were . ooneerned. The. f .:■ crowd then; had .to wait for the.5.22. Onebunga train, , - and 'at 5.22, when the engine was ready to start,' some bright official discovered the -fact that about 100 people- could not get into the already overcrowded carriages. The engine was then'dispatched pa a-forag-ing expedition. Where-it, went no one. seems to know. Perhaps to , Newmarket .by .the.time,occupi ] ed ; ,,. i.AjyengthJ^f,returned, with, one vehi(ile, ,J 'arid tfie 'extra passengers rushed this carriage like..a tramcar it,s o'clock: -Those who.could not/get inside stood on the platform in the ; driving rain, and at last: the train was started on its' journey. .This amazing system of running trains is not altogether the fault of the local'staff. The shadow of Wellington management hangs over it, and-consequently there is the usual bungle at wayside stations. On Tuesday- night passengers waited'on "shelterless platforms, in the drenching rain for a train that came not. This .was the, alleged 9.46 p.m. from Auckland to Avondata:: It ran half an hour later or more, and when to the delight: of the wet, and anxious passengers at Mount Eden, it drew into that, Weak locality, they had no sooner got aboard than the lights' went out."