Luxury in Travel

Sun (Auckland), Volume II, Issue 520, 24 November 1928, Page 8

Luxury in Travel

CALL FOR SPEED & COMFORT

Before the war the railways operated largely under the system known colloquially as ‘‘Rafferty's Rules”; many trains came and went with hardly more than a casual regard for the scheduled time-table, and if a branch line train performed a mechanical miracle and left a station up to time, the majority of prospective passengers missed it. Motor-service cars, on the other hand, developed rapidly; they came and went with businesslike precision, and the railways were compelled to brighten up the service and increase the speed of the trains, as well as to provide more comfortable travel for diminishing custom. This progressive development in

administrative thought and operative control has been responsible for a markeft transformation in railway methods in this country, and at the present time little may be said against the pace and comfort of the main line expresses which speed along the backbone of each island. The latest move is toward standardisation. Cars and engines will be turned out to standard pattern and all will bear the hall-mark ‘‘Made in New Zealand.” The new cars, which have been designed, but none of which have yet been constructed, also follow a standard type. Produced in the railway workshops, they will be attached to all trains until the service is fully equipped. One of the chief advantages is

RECOGNISING the need for greater ease and freedom in train travel in New Zealand, tlie Railways Department has now adopted the slogan “travel in comfort, and its latest innovations strikingly illustrate a desire on the pait of the authorities to relieve the tedium of long journeys. The new day-car which is to he attached to the expresses is the last word in locomotive luxury.

the provision of more room for the individual passenger, while better upholstery and more convenient seats will distinguish it from the type of carriage now in use. Each passenger will be able to regulate his own heating, irrespective of the requirements of others in the same car, and he will be given wider outlook and more safety by the installation of windows of the downward-wind style, such as are provided on late model saloon motor-cars. Wider panes will add to the enjoyment of the view and the fear of the window banging down upon tender fingers will be eliminated. Apart altogether from this substantial consideration, much of the dust which Is an unpleasant feature of the fast Limited train journey will be avoided. SECOND CLASS SLEEPERS The adoption by the English railway authorities of the third class sleeper has suggested the possibility of a second class sleeper on the night Limited express here, malting this an all-sleeper train. It is believed that the Railway Department will investigate the feasibility of providing a car equipped less elaborately than tha first class sleeper, but with comfort and facilities commensurate with the fares charged. If the price for a second class sleeper could be fixed at 5s above the usual fare, the innovation would leap to immediate popularity. New Zealanders are fond of night travel. The Limited express is undoubtedly the most popular train in the Dominion, and the establishment of a night express in the South Island, too, is reported by the department to be immensely popular. The initial contracts for material for the new restaurant cars already have been let, and it will not be long before passengers will have the reestablishment of the old dining-car system, which appears to operate with noted success in America. ANOTHER COMMERCE TRAIN The innovation of the Railway Department which did a great deal toward popularising the system was the Auckland provincial commerce train, which ran a nine days’ journey over the northern half of the North Island. The Wellington Chamber of Commerce was so impressed with the value of this move that arrangements are being made to have a similar train run through the southern part of the North Island, under the auspices of the chamber. No date has yet been fixed for this train, but some time in the Fall, when the Taranaki, Hawke’s Bay, Manawatu and Wairarapa districts are looking their best in the profusion of their autumn growth, the train will convey a party of businessmen from the capital city on a comprehensive educational tour of their own province.