COMFORT ON LIMITED

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 666, 18 May 1929, Page 6

COMFORT ON LIMITED

KITCHENETTE ON DE LUXE CARS LOSING PROPOSITION By the end of this month the first of the reconstructed de luxe sleeping cars will be running on the Limited express between Auckland and "Wellington. The first car, which is to be given a trial run, is almost ready to leave the Otaliuhu workshops. If it is a success, all the other de luxe sleepers will be similarly reconstructed. One of the two-berth compartments in each car is being turned into a kitchenette, and fitted with electric toasters, heaters, washing-up facilities, etc. It is intended to provide passengers in the sleeping cars with light breakfast on the train. Toast and similar light dishes will be made in the kitchenette, as well as coffee and tea, as the passengers require it at any part of the journey. At present the morning tea which is supplied to passengers in the sleepingcars is taken on the train at Frankton Junction on the upward journey and at Palmerstbn North going down. The attendants distribute the tea from a cramped corner of the car at present, as there is no accommodation for such work. By the new arrangement of the sleepers passengers will receive more attention and .personal comfort, but it looks as though it will be a losing proposition for the Government. By the elimination of two berths on each car the railway department will lose £2 on each train. This means that every night £8 will be lost if all the de luxe cars are similarly fitted—£4 on the upward Limited and £4 on the downward, as there are two de luxe cars on each Limited express. On a similar scale the department will lose £4B a week, or £2,496 a year in order to supply coffee, tea and toast to passengers.