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The New Zealand Railways Magazine, Volume 9, Issue 9 (December 1, 1934)

Comfort by Rail

Comfort by Rail

“THe time has passed when a long journey in England by motor road was a pleasure. Increasing road traffic, crossroad stoppages, cramped knees, road hogs, and possible fogs are to be seriously reckoned with. In a bus one can only tolerate and endure; there is no escaping unpleasant companions; and, like a great many other travellers, I have gone back to the train. For comfort and speed it scores every time.”

In the above words, Gertrude Mack, writing to the Sydney Morning Herald recently, gives expression to what is becoming the settled conviction of experienced travellers, not only in England, but in almost every country where a choice between road and rail is open. Control and management of all traffic movements under one organisation—a condition which the railways alone can give—is a vital factor in securing that comfort.

But there are other amenities offered to train travellers—amenities to which the public are so habituated that they are taken as a matter of course—which even the best road services cannot parallel.

Amongst these are modern railway stations. It might be safely said that no road transport company could hope to compete successfully with the railways were it to attempt to give the comprehensive service of waiting rooms, refreshment rooms, covered concourses, and luggage and parcels checking, storage, and transport facilities which are part of any well-organised train system.

Special attention to these features will be found in the new Wellington Station, of which the foundation stone is to be laid this month by H.R.H. the Duke of Gloucester. With the completion of this station, an existing gap in the generally high standard of the Dominion's rail services will be filled. But backward (from a railway standard) as the present Wellington passenger terminal facilities are, they are better than those which the best road service can show.

We know the cramping effect of even the best among road vehicles, which all require that the passenger shall “stay put” while the car is in motion. And we know that at the intermediate stops on a road journey the traveller has no choice but to step out, frequently on the open street, and just put in time the best way he can till the trip is resumed. How different from the freedom of movement on trains, and sheltered comfort of railway stations. Here the whole atmosphere is steeped in the spirit of travel—the coloured signal-lights, the shining metals, the uniformed attendants, the tempting refreshment counters, the gay bookstalls. the eager come-and-go of fellow-travellers, the whistling of trains, the rumble and clang of shunted vehicles—all these combine to make the romance of the rail an ever-changing drama of transport, with features of interest for which no road service can offer a counterpart.

Royalty recognises the comfort and convenience of the railways in the most practical way—by using them whenever feasible. Of this, the present tour by Prince Henry, with its extensive train travel itinerary, is a clear indication.

Although at the coming Christmastide, when all the world will want to go a-touring, the carrying capacity of the railways is likely to be tested to the utmost, the service here can be depended upon to meet all requirements with its accustomed efficiency, and to add to that safety of travel for which the Dominion's lines are so justly noted, a comfort which will go a long way towards inducing the Christmas spirit; for comfort and good cheer are almost inseparable companions during the great annual Christian celebration—the cherished period of universal peace and goodwill.