THE Wairarapa Age MORNING DAILY. WEDNESDAY. DECEMBER 15, 1909. AN INTOLERABLE "SERVICE"

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXXII, Issue 9676, 15 December 1909, Page 4

THE Wairarapa Age MORNING DAILY. WEDNESDAY. DECEMBER 15, 1909. AN INTOLERABLE "SERVICE"

When the Minister for Railways (the Hon. J, A. Millar) recently urged •■> upon a Wairarapa deputation that the people of the district they represented should give the new railway service a fair trial, it was assumed that the altered service would be adhered to. We have no doubt that great majority of the people sympathise with the.Minister in his efforts to make the railways pay, but the manner in which the trains have been run during the past ten days cannot be tolerated very much longer. In his wisdom the Minister saw fit to make drastic alterations in the railway service at a time when a far greater quantity of produce must be going out of the district than in any other time of the year. Obviously ■ the time selected for the change was not a good one, and an irregular service was probable on the face of things, but the people have a right to expect that the passenger trains shall be run according to the time table. In virtually asking for the sympathy and co-operation of this district the very least, that the Department can do is to see that no reasonable cause of complaint arises in regard to the few inconveniently timed trains to which the district has been reduced in the matter of a railway "service." The way in which trains are run about the district at ; the present time certainly cannot he I dignified with the description "service"—a series of muddles which j cause the greatest inconvenience—to put the position mildly, is what the i district is now enjoying! A single ex- , ample will suffice to Illustrate what is going on. A Masterton resident bad an important engagement in Palmerston North on Monday last. He ' unwisely trusted to the State owned Railways Department to run its trains to t)m°, and this is how he far«d. He left A! aster ton at 7.45 a..m. ,' < and reached Palmerston North at i 3.-i5 p.m., several tunics lale i>«v a -

meeting, which had to be proceeded with in his absence. He had further important business to attend to, but had to leturn to Masterton the same evening. At ten minutrs past five o'clock, alter being exactly one hour and twenty-five minutes off the train, he had to board it again fcr the return journey. He alighted from the train at Kuripuni at 11.30 p.m. During the day he had spent over 14 hours in the train, and had had little more than one hour in which to transact important business. Is this the "service" with which the Minister for Railways asks the people to be satisfied? Despite the fact that the tablet system is supposed to be in existence trains wait for lengthy periods at small stations until some train or other has pass id. On the occasion in question *;he train stopped on the morning journey for a whole hour at Ek«tahuna, and failed to connect with a train for Palmerston North at Woodville by reason of that train having left just ten minutes before ihe arrival ot the Masterton train. The amount of time wasted at stations is absolutely ridiculous, and worse; it is unjustifiable and intolerable. Although Masterton is an important centre, and the chief town of a district that must contribute a large sum annually to the revenue of the Eailways Department, it has received under the new "service" no more consideration than, say, Mangamaire. Surely such treatment cannot be necessary even in the eyes of an economically minded Minister? The train that used to leave Masterton at 6.30 o'clock in the morning was well-timed. It is and always was well patronised by Masterton people naving business in the Bush district, and it is now found that the alt red hour of departure, 7.45 a.m., \j> too late. This train to suit the convenience of those by whom it is chiefly used should arrive at Fahiatua some two hours earlier than it does at present. This is ' only a single instance where an alteration for the better could be made, but whatever the Department's views on the needs of the district may be, the time-table should at least be adhered to. The present alleged service,, however, gives every indication of breaking down hopeles3ly, and should our supposition prove to be correct the breakdown will possibly prove to be the i preliminary to a gratifying reform.