RAILWAY TRAVEL

Wairarapa Times-Age, 18 December 1941, Page 6

RAILWAY TRAVEL

PREFERENCE EXTENDED TO HORSES? COMMENT IN CHRISTCHURCH. STATEMENT BY DISTRICT TRAFFIC MANAGER. (By Telegraph—Press Association.) CHRISTCHURCH, his Day. Restrictions on railway travel which will be imposed on the general public as from next Saturday apparently will not apply to racehorses or their attendants. Tonight five Canterbury horses engaged at the Auckland Trotting Club’s Christmas meeting will leave for the North Island, and next Tuesday about seventeen horses are booked to travel by special train to the West Coast, for the Westport Trotting Club’s Christmas fixture.

Yesterday a Christchurch business man stood in a queue at the Railway Station to obtain permission to travel to Dunedin on business. He was given a ticket after stating the reason for his trip, but- could get no guarantee that railway facilities would be available to bring him home. When the matter of horse travel was referred to him this morning, the Railway District Traffic Manager (Mr McLean) said the restriction on travel over a distance of one hundred miles was only on relief expresses and special passenger trains. The ordinary express and passenger service would be running as usual from next Saturday. Horses going to race meetings travelled by mixed trains and attendants went with them. There was nothing in the restriction to prevent the running of special horse trains. He said that, the restrictions being on passenger travel, anyone desiring to go to Dunedin, say, could do so if he could convince the Department’s officers that the trip was necessary, and if there was accommodation on th/ train.