TRAVEL PERMITS

Dominion, Volume 35, Issue 256, 28 July 1942, Page 4

TRAVEL PERMITS

Over 700 Issued In Wellington OVER 100 MILES BY RAIL From 9 o’clock yesterday morning till the (middle of ’the afternoon there was a constant stream of applicants for travel permits at the Wellington railway station. The central booking office of the Tourist Department in “The Dominion” ‘building and the railway booking office in (Courtenay Place also received many inquiries, with the result that more than 700. permits for rail travel over 100 miles in the North Island have been issued in Wellington. Some of these were issued last week, -but the majority of -the applications were made yesterday. Well over three-quarters of the permits were for tickets to enable travellers to return to their homes, stated a railway official. Application to travel for business or health reasons (needed to be accompanied by written evidence to that effect, he added. However, there had been few requests made that were obviously insincere. It is expected that permits will be issued on the basis of the amount of accommodation available, and that when trains are full for any particular day, intending travellers will have their permite issued for another day. Applicants are asked when they intend to travel, and their permits are endorsed accordingly. The ban on travel for pleasure which came into operation yesterday necessitates a revision of the plans of many Wellington people to visit the Chateau and National Park for winter sports next month, when the best snow conditions are generally found. Long before the restrictions were announced many had reserved accommodation, and in so,me cases paid for it for as far ahead as the end of September, with the result that the Chateau was fully booked till after the middle of August. “Some people may criticize holidays when hard and long work is demanded by the war effort,” said a member of one of the ski clubs, “but the harder one works the more necessary it is in the interests of efficiency to have a holiday.” In addition to National Park, other Government resorts affected by the restrictions are the Waitomo Caves and Rotorua, but probably not so many had planned to visit those places, specially as the accommodation in Rotorua is now very limited and the fishing season has closed. Minister’s Comments. “Whether they growl or not the decision stands,” said Mr. Semple, Minister of Transport, when referring in Auckland during the weekend to what he termed the grousers. “It is absolutely necessary to have these restrictions,” he added. “The railways are doing more work than ever before. Road services both for passengers and goods have been curtailed, and the railways have to shoulder an extra burden. The rails are also being used for other purposes well known to the public. “Railwaymen numbering 6500 are in the armed forces, and there is a shortage of skilled men. Enginedrivers are working almost 60 hours a week, and the coal position is causing concern. Men are working overtime in the Railways Department, and we have had to train women to fill many of the positions formerly held by men. Those who have to be inconvenienced must realize that they must make some sacrifice so that those who have legitimate business to transact at a distance may be, accommodated.”.