RAILWAY EXCURSION FARES.

Taranaki Daily News, 14 December 1915, Page 3

RAILWAY EXCURSION FARES.

To the Editor. j Sir, —Your railway reporter is con- ; siderably out in his statements over the railway excursion fares. Your report says that before the advances in fares it was 2d per mile first-class, ami 1 l-3d per mile second-class for return tickets, ' mileage counted one way only. That is an error; it was 2d first-class, but only Id second-class. If, as your repovt says, the increase is Sl-.'i per cent., then it should be 21-fid for . first-class and 1 1 -12 d for second-class. It appears, however, that it is to be 2 l-fld for first-class and Hd for second-class; that is an advance ; on the former first-class fare of only ' 10 per cent., and in the second-class of 50 per cent. Last Christmas, the second class excursion fare from New Plymouth to "Wellington was 21s, this year it will be 31s fid, according to your report, and for first-class it was 425, and now will be 4Gs lOd. This advance is jusl about what is in the advertisement of the lOxpansion League in'your columns on Saturday. I saw this from tlie first when the advance was talked out, only 1 thought that surely some M.P. who professes to be looking after the masses, would point out this evident imposition on the masses and letting the classes off very lightly. Stop! I see it now. The Railway Department want to drive us all into being first-class passengers. Yes! ' That is progress, and when we arc all that and there is no second-class, tho "classes" who wish to be select can travel by their own motor. At present I ! have no motor so I travel SECOND-CLASS. ' New Plymouth, Dec. 13, 1915.