THE WAYS OF THE RAILWAY, No. 1

Dominion, Volume 9, Issue 2812, 1 July 1916, Page 11

THE WAYS OF THE RAILWAY, No. 1

."SiiyT-I wish to make usfl'.of .your columns to mako as widely.known as possible that tlie Railway Department >have increased the railway fares -of--children attending liighyschools -and i colleges by 25-per cent., in addition:.-to- the -8-per cent.. increase, imposed since; the, ''war broke out. Tor. instance, a child attending Wellington .College from* say, Lower :Hutt, paid 10s. : for' a . 8 .months' ticket ;to "Wellington. This ticket ■''could be taken out in the middle of ~ February, when the college opened, and owing to. there being a short holiday between each item, three 3-morithly tickets sufficed 'for a ■ college. year. These; tickets ,were increased by Ifls. per quarter' after the >war broke, out, and later a further increase of, 25 per cent, was put on,- and rft, was done' in,this way. A new regulation was got out which made it compulsory for these tickets to run out at the following dates, viz., March 31, June 30, September 30, and December 31.' I presume this was done to suit the convenience of some of our so-called public servants in keeping'records. ■ Note the cffect of this : new. regulation: A ticket taken out on January 1. could not be used until the college opened at the middle of February, as there is another regulation which says that tickets-must wily be used by the children, when attending 6chool. In other words the railway compels us to pay the full-fare for ft 3 months' ticket, although it is only possible to use it for about sis weeks, And parents are now compelled to buy four 3-monthly tickets for a school year; in other words, a rise of 25 per cent. And yet our Goyornment.claim -that they

cuoourago education. Thoso of us who know the Railway Department, know that- to a great'oxtont it is'run to suit the'convenience of the officials and not to snit t the public. ■■.Trusting that our Education Boards and others who liavo the welfare of the childrcti at heart will take this matter iip and assist to protect us from tlio "ways of the railway,"—l am, etc., SUBURBAN. [Upon inquiry at the head office of the ■ Railway Department, a Dominion reporter loomed that tlio matter referred to by our correspondent has boon under consideration of the Department. It is intended to revert to tlio former ■practice of making school 'tickcts, available for threo months from tho date of issuo, and. a regulation to that', effeot is in : course of preparation. It was not intended that tho . alteration in the general season ticket system should htive the effect of increasing tho miiriber of school tickets required for the school year; the object .in view was to ensure a more cffcctivo check'on season'tickets of all descriptions."!.