AN OVERCROWDED TRAIN.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LIV, Issue 170, 24 January 1912, Page 4

AN OVERCROWDED TRAIN.

RUSH FOR SEATS. Auckland, January 22. A glaring example of the necessity for doubling the express train aorvice between Auckland and Wellington was furnished last evening. Although ten passenger carriages were provided on the i 9.15 .p.m. train for Wellington," these PS« 0 J| d ., r inadequate ! f|)| > the ' numbe'r'bf persons who desired to trftve). The whole of the seating accommodation .waß.so()n*taken up, and" those*Mo"afi "' riveifllater feum}' themselves faced with 'prospect of to, '■; ;■'■ stand thtoAlp'"a 'considerablie' portion of the long and tiresome journey.. < The rail- I way officials met the situation at the last moment by putting on an extra car riage, but this was not accomplished without a serious element of danger. The -lamp at the eastern end of the platform being out, the operation was conducted in inky darkness, and as the bar* ' riage was shunted on, the waiting passengers, many of them carrying heavy luggage, rushed the platforms. For'the space of about half a minute it seemed as if several of the passengers, in their mad rush, must fall beneath the moving carriage, but fortunately no casualty occurred. The 'train when it left the,station had' a total of/fourteen carriages, comprising one postal, two goods, and eleven passenger cars. The total number of passengers aboard was estimated ' at 305.