MASS EXODUS

Otago Daily Times, Issue 26632, 1 December 1947, Page 4

MASS EXODUS

BOARDING* SCHOOL PUPILS EXTRA CARRIAGES ON TRAINS P.A. AUCKLAND, Nov. 30. Arrangements have been .made by the Railways Department to cope witn the sudden exodus of boarding school pupils from Auckland. Extra carriages were added to the New Plymouth express to-night, and if necessary the 3 o’clock and 7.15 p.m. expresses to Wellington will have additional carriages to-morrow. A number of boarding pupils were called for by their parents and taken home by car during the week-end, but it is expected that at least 200 students will be travelling home by train to-mor-row.

As soon as the closing of all schools was announced, the principals pf the boarding schools asked the Railways Department if bookings for their pupils could be advanced so that they could leave almost immediately. It was stated to-day that there would be sufficient train accommodation for all pupils. Monday bookings on the Main Trunk trains were, fortunately, not heavy. Reservations for the next two weeks, before the normal holiday rush, were lighter than in recent weeks. The closing order will affect some secondary schools more seriously than Others. At some schools end of the year examinations have been completed, but at others they will be cancelled. Most of the prize-giving ceremonies have been postponed until the beginning of the new school year. At a number of schools provision has been made for pupils to call for their booirs and reports to-morrow or during the week.