Remarkably Cheap Rail Travel.

According to the “Railway Gazette,” what is believed to be the longest day excursion ever run, carried, on 31st March last, a party of 350 football enthusiasts from Inverness to London—a distance (for the return journey) of 1,136 miles. The excursion was run in connection with the international football match at Wembley, and the fare charged for the return trip was only 30/-. This works out at over three miles for a penny.

* * *

World'S Record Non-Stop Runs.

The London, Midland and Scottish Railway—widely famed for the excellence of its equipment and services—established (last month) two further world's records for the longest non-stop run. Two expresses were concerned in this remarkable performance, both leaving Euston station, London, for Glasgow and Edinburgh respectively. The distance covered in the one case was 401 ½ miles, and in the other 399 ¾ miles—both runs being made without a halt. These record runs involve, in both cases, two difficult climbs, one near the Shaw Summit (900ft high) in Westmoreland, and the other over the Beattock Summit (1000ft. high) in Lanarkshire. The previous world's record non-stop run was also made on the London, Midland and Scottish system, in a run from London to Carlisle, a distance of 299 ¼ miles.

Not only do these long non-stop runs meet the demand of the business and rail travelling public for speedy transit from place to place, but they are a striking tribute to the mechanical perfection of the modern locomotive.

* * *

Some Interesting Figures.

Speaking at the annual dinner of the Institute of Transport held in London on 21st March, Lord Daryngton (whose great-grandfather gave George Stephenson the money to put the first Railway Bill through Parliament) said that so great had been the development of transport during the past twenty-five years, that even the most imaginative man a quarter of a century ago could not have realised it. After a reference to the world-wide development of railways from the small beginnings in England, Lord Daryngton quoted some instructive figures relating to the railways of Great Britain, the United States, and Germany. The figures are as follows:—

* * *

”Pleasantly Surprised.”

“Visitors to the Dominion usually complain about our railways. It has become monotonous,” remarked a Dunedin Press representative to a recent visitor to the Dominion. The visitor replied as follows:—

“I know, I was warned against them long before I came here, but if it is any news to you, I can say that I have been pleasantly surprised by them.” He went on to say that throughout his sojourn in New Zealand he had never suffered any inconvenience through train travelling as regards comfort. The choice of small corridor compartments or of seats in pullman cars left nothing to be desired. The meal arrangements at the wayside stations were quaint, and gave one a chance to have a stretch. The speed of express trains was undoubtedly the utmost that could be obtained on the narrow gauge lines, and in most parts of the country the scenery was so attractive that the traveller did not notice the time pass by. Of course, the carriages were smaller and more dingy than those most visitors were used to, but for short distance purposes they were quite satisfactory.

“I hear you are making all your own locomotives and cars,” he concluded. “You are to be congratulated on the progress made in such a young country.”