CROWDED OUT

Sun (Auckland), Volume II, Issue 545, 24 December 1928, Page 10

CROWDED OUT

Trains Overflowing ! Christmas at the Railway HusUe and bustle, and rush and Bundles of luggage, piles of i n , gage, mountains of luggage. *" Porters and attendants rushing here and there as in a “speeded-up” motion picture. nouon Christmas Eve at the Auckland rail way station! To-day is the peak of the rush I period. The attractions of Auckland ! have brought hundreds of holiday makers to the Queen City, and the unfortunate railway officials will ~ member Christmas Eve, 1928 as the busiest time in their lives. ’ Aucklanders themselves have been pouring out of the city to all parts of the province to spend a quiet holiday “far from the madding crowd.’* But the railway officials win require ■ a holiday to recuperate from the , strenuous period. i i There was a large exodus of excursionists last evening. The seven cars on the Limited for Wellington were full, and each of the two followin- ; expresses had 19 cars attached, aS ■ loaded with holiday-makers.

Relief trains are being run this morning, and are packed and overflowing.

The expresses from Wellington poured solid masses on humanity oa to the station this morning, and por ters and attendants were kept on tiy» run to cope with the luggage question In addition to the usual trains, a relief express left for Whangarei this morning. To provide for late excursionists, relief trains will leave for Tauranga, Rotorua, and Opua between 10 o’clock and 10.30 this evening. All these trains will be packed to overflowing. All three expresess to-night are heavily booked. Railway officials say the crowds are very orderly, and. no complaint can be made. Tlie Christmas spirit is prevalent everywhere, and good-nature is the orde; of the day. Some trouble is being experienced with reserved seats, owing to the necessity of bringing into use some of the old ears with longitudinal seats, but the difficulty is how being overcome. A car was rushed on Saturday, when a passenger calmly picked the lock with a penknife while the porter was inside labelling the seats. One railway official who was going through the cars on the express asked two ladies who were occupying reserved seats to produce their reserve tickets. They said they were not travelling, but merely seeing friends off. “This sort of thing makes it hard for us,” said an official. “The correct place from which to see people off is from the platform, instead of withholding seats from those who require them.” But the Christmas rush is almost over, and railwaymen generally will heave a sigh of relief when the ordinary routine is under way again. Next year a new station, and up-to-date facilities, will make the handling, of traffic an easier matter for railway officials, and travelling itself a greater comfort for the public.