NEW ZEALAND RAILWAYS.

Southland Times, Issue 18844, 9 June 1920, Page 2

NEW ZEALAND RAILWAYS.

To the Editor. Sir, —As a visitor has criticised the N.Z. Railway carriages as per your issue to-day, I feel that in all fairness to the management, 1 should express an opinion on the other side. Reference is made to the unclean state of lavatories and carriages, but it is not stated that when the carriages leave the starting point on main lines they are clean. Certainly it is disgraceful that people who in their own homes are careful to act in a clean fashion will when using a railway carriage act as if they lived in a pig sty! In the smoking carriages the expectoration and cigarette butts make the floor downright disgusting, while in the non-smokers’ portions of fruit, and other food litter the floor. In the lavatories the filthy conduct of those who use them on the journey is past description. The one who criticises the railways compares the carriages with those in Australia; but as I recently travelled through lour States (here, I am sorry to say that the carriages were in a filthy condition. The passengers in both countries are to blame for the condition. As for as comfort is concerned these narrow gauge railways are far superior to the narrow gauge in Australian States. Certainly the broad gauge of three States in Australia makes it possible to have a more comfortable carriage and the fact that passengers are kept in smaller lots by using box carriages helps to reduce the filthy condition; but in both countries the lavatories are made disgraceful by the passengers.—l am, etc., TRAVELLER. June 7, 1920.