THE MAIL TRAINS.

Taranaki Daily News, 29 September 1922, Page 5

THE MAIL TRAINS.

FASTER SERVICE WANTED. NO IMPROVEMENT YET. OTHER RAILWAY QUESTIONS. (By Wire.—Special Reporter.) Wellington, Last Night. A request for the speeding-up of the New Plymouth mail train was made to the Minister of Railways to-day by a deputation representative of Taranaki. The speakers were introduced by Mr. S. G. Smith, M.P.j and other Taranaki members accompanied the deputation. Mr. T. C. List (president of the Taranaki Chamber of Commerce) said that the district was indebted to the department for improvements' of the local services. The mail service, however, had not been improved in the past thirty years, and an improvement was long overdue. The deputation felt that with the big engines now in use the department ought to be able to reduce very considerably the time occupied in the journey from New. Plymouth to Wellington. There was no express service at present except in name.

There seemed to be no reason for the mail train stopping at every little station on the line, from Palmerston North to Wellington; it was nothing better than a ’’local train.” . It was important that connection with the ferry service at Wellington should be assured, and an hour and a-half ought to be saved on the journey. Better carriages were needed on the mail train, and a special carriage for women. There was serious congestion in the sorting-sheds at New Plymouth, and so great was the growth of business at the port that something would have to be done soon to remedy matters. Mr. J. B. Richards, on behalf of the Stratford Chamber of Commerce, stressed the importance of making certain that the mail train connected with" the ferry service. At present, he said, it was difficult for a passenger to catch a boat at either end of the journey. Mr. C. H. Burgess associated himself with the requests of the previous speakers. Mr. Johns, speaking for the users of the Waitara branch line, urged the Minister to have a warning signal placed at the Waitara Road crossing, which he described as very dangerous. THE MINISTER’S REPLY. The Minister (the Hon. D. H. Guthrie) said that any proposal that stops should b? cut out would be met with a thousand adverse arguments by those interested. Places that were removed from the list of stop-ping-places would have to be compensated with local services, and this compensation the department could not at present afford to give. He could give no promise to speed up the train immediately. “When w? are able to do it we shall do it,” said Mr. Guthrie; “but we are not able to do it today.” With regard to the condition of the carriages, the Minister said that so far as he knew the train was a reasonably comfort able one. If, however, there were any improvements he could make he would be glad to make them. Ladies’ carriages were to be provided for the Wellington-New Plymouth and Wellington-Napier mail services.

Mr. Masters, M.P.: When ? Mr. Guthrie: As soon as ever it is possible.

The Minister added that he knew the importance of having the train running jo that it could be depended upon to connect with the boat. It was not always the department that was to blame for failures to connect, as sometimes the boats were not puntual. A dangerous crossing had been mentioned. The department was at present conducting experiments with the object of finding out what was the best device for warning traffic, and when the experiments were completed the device chosen would be installed at dangerous places, such as the one referred to. The General Manager of Railways (Mr. R. W. McVilly) said that the department was closely studying the work of the<new engines, in order to see whether they were capable of running to a faster time-table than that at present followed on the New Plymouth line. If the engines were found capable of faster running, the time-table would be re-cast. It was useless, however, for the deputation to ask for anything that would mean additional expenditure. CONGESTION IN THE YARDS. He agreed with the speakers regarding congestion in the yards at New Plymouth. That was caused in part by the fact many years ago the department had allowed business men to adopt practices that should not have been permitted. A man would import goods in bulk; they would arrive at the station in truck loads, and while they were being unloaded, the importer would come along with a dozen or more consignment notes and haVe the goods split up into a dozen or more lots for the people to whom he had sold them. Some of these people would come along, and there would be more consignment notes and more splitting up. Accommodation for sorting was not sufficient for all these processes, and he was wondering if the time had not arrived when it would be necessary to end the practice he had described. It was not in force in any other part of New Zealand. The carriages on the mail train were of exactly the same type as those on the Napier and other lines, though they were not of the same type as those on the Main Trunk line. He was not prepared to advocate the expenditure of money on an extensive overhaul of the present carriages. New carriages were being built for both the Napier and New Plymouth expresses, but they could not be completed at once. A ladies’ car would be included in the new trains.

Mr. List remarked that the deputation asked for nothing involving increased expenditure. They felt local trains could be rearranged to serve small places and ensure a connection with the express, so enabling all to be served and a faster express service ensured.