TRENTHAM RACES

Dominion, Volume 36, Issue 28, 28 October 1942, Page 6

TRENTHAM RACES

Heavy Train Traffic REASON FOR DELAY

Nine thousand [icople had to lie brought back by rail from the Trentham races on Monday, it is stated by the railway authorities, and 614 ordin ary and race trains, the first of which left Trentham at 4.34 p.m., were used. They state that the last race train left at 5.54 p.m., and four more trains pulled out of Trentham at intervals till 7.21 p.m. They report that the Wairarapa express, which picked up some passengers who could not be taken on earlier trains, was running an hour late. Probably all the passengers would have departed by 6 p.m., state the railwav authorities, had a large'number of them, not satisfied with obtaining transport under the extraordinary conditions prevailing, been insistent on obtaining seats, too. Passengers who met with a long delay could blame the selfishness of these racegoers. There were many hundreds of people, early on the station platform, who, finding that all seats in the trains were occupied before they could get aboard, preferred to wait for the next train, with the certainty of securing seats for the journey. instead of having to stand. Meanwhile, other race-goers standing in long queues were held up behind Hie barriers, with the accumulated effect that, after nearly all the trains had gone, they were unable to get transport for some time. Kailway officials did their best to impress upon those on the platform the situation they were creating, but some indifference was shown. Finally they were told to entrain or they would not get transport at all.