COACH v. TRAIN.

Waimate Daily Advertiser, Volume IV, Issue 292, 6 December 1902, Page 3

COACH v. TRAIN.

TO THE EOITIR. Sir,—lt is a wonder that- the settlers from the Downs, Waihao Forks, Kapua and Waikakahi districts have not before now grumbled at the inconvenience of travelling to and from Waimate. The coach service to the two latter places is both inconvenient and expensive. If you get in the coach at Arno station you are charged the same fare as the Downs people are charged and the distance from the Downs is double that of Arno. Many of the latter settler* would avail themselves of the co ich services could they get there and back tor one shilling. The train service to these settlements is of no utility whatever. A railway official told me the other day “ that it would be no use running the train morning and evening for the amount of passenger fares received every month, which only amounted to 18s, moreover, it would clash with the c nch.” This seems very rum ! The Railway Department would rather suffer a loss of revenue and put the travelling public to inconvenience than clash with the Postal Department, Another argument that the member for this district has is “That they would have to erect an engine shed, etc., at the Downs

and the Railway Department would not go to that expense.” Now the- -a b e of the whole thing is this : the trains runs every alternate day, the carriages are running empty, people travelling to or from Waimate have to walk back, unless some kind Samaritan picks them i.p. But some miy say that there is the coach. Don’t you consider it equally absurd for a coach to be running alongside of the railway as it is for the steam ship services to run along side the main trunk line in Canterbury and Otago. What is the xyz of the question? It would pay to run a morning and evening train service daily, Farmers would not trouble to drive into town if they could get to and from by train, as it much more convenient. The increase in passenger traffic would not only pay for coal, but leave a good margin of profit. The train could leave Waimate in the morning for the Downs and be back again to catch the , morning trains north and south. It | could return to and from the Downs after the arrival of the expresses. They could carry the mails which would also be a source of revenue. This system of train service would enable those in charge of the train to fill up the-r idle time, which is so noticeable in Waimate station. I tiust tbit the Department will give the»e suggestions their due consideration and adopt a train service which would not only be a source of great convenience to the travelling public, but a source of revenue to the Department. —I am, etc., Buffing Billy.

[We think our correspondent is rather too enthusiastic about the paying qualities of a daily, or rather twice daily, se vice to Waihao Diwns. Then he su ely would not ask for the railway employees to work 13 or 14 hours a day.—Ed. W. A.]