MANY TRAVELLERS.

Taranaki Daily News, 27 December 1922, Page 4

MANY TRAVELLERS.

HEAVY RAILWAY TRAFFIC. I INCREASE OVER LAST YEAR. The staff at the New Plymouth railway station was kept very busy during the week preceding Christmas and over the holidays, and the passenger bookings show a considerable increase over those of last year. The last three days o.f the week were the busiest, when 1003 passengers were booked outwards, as against 897 for the same period last year. A feature of the outward booking was the great number of inquiries for long distance journeys in the North Island, while the inter-island booking was also very strong. The inward traffic to New Plymouth was heavier than the outward and was much in evidence throughout the week. The greatest bustle was reached on Christmas Eve, when two mail trains were run. A relief mail, which arrived at 7.45 p.m., comprised eight cars, while the ordinary mail train which followed consisted of 15 cars. Both trains were fully loaded. The increase in the bookings will become evident when it is remembered that the ordinary mail train is usually made up of only five passenger cars.

The goods traffic was also heavy during the week, while the races attracted a big amount of passenger traffic yesterday. The ordinary 10.15 a.m. train from Hawera was composed of 19 cars fully loaded, while a special train at 10.50 of eight cars from Hawera was also well filled.