Evening star., 1947-11-30
Yule Holiday

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make their plane and train reserva-
tions we'll in advance. At least
some hundreds of thousands of them
have. The result is showing up in
the year-end holiday travel, which
will create its traditional jam late
next month. Preferred types of ac-
commodations on some trains and
seats on some planes already have
been sold out, probably on the very
day Christmas home-goer may
wish to leave Washington.
Generally, reserved train space
still can be obtained. It might re-
quire some adjustment, upward or
downward, in the kind of accom-
modation accepted and a possible
shift in the departure date. The
air and rail situation is tighten
ing up rapidly, however, and fur
ther delay in making reservations
may force disappointing or impos-
sible alternatives on the tardy ap-
plicants.
This overall picture, together with
the expectation that the fortncom-
ing holiday travel will be about as
heavy as last Christmas, was OBJ
tanned in a poll last week Of the
railroads and airlines serving Wash
ington. 1t takes into account the
fact that transportation executives
for months have been laying their
plans to handle tremendous Yule
and New Years passenger load, and
that all available equipment will be
modified at strategic points to pro-
vide service.
X X X X
Christmas comes this year on
Thursday. The heavy travel will
begin, however, the previous week.
Reservations are banking up" as
early as Wednesday, December IT..
Demand is heaviest on December 10.
20 and 81, and it is in this span that
sell-outs are reported. Virtually all
airlines serving Washington report
space completely taken on Decem-
ber 20. At least three of Washing
tons many trains report critical
day" sell-outs. All involve reserve
seat coaches-the Southern Rail-
ways Southerner, to Atlanta and
New Orleans, and two of Seaboard's
southbound streamliners. Seaboard
reports long waiting lists for this
type of economical travel from the
17th. 1t could fill another Silver
Meteor or two"
All rail lines out of Washington
reported some types of sleeping ac-
commodation still available. In some
cases. the holiday travellers have
snapped up bedrooms and ROOM
cites, and, of course, lower berths.
The Baltimore & Ohio said all pre-
ferred space is sold for Christmas"
and that choice of Pullman berths
on December 18 and 19 is limited to
uppers. Such reports, as in the case
of all railroads, are qualified by the
possibility that space cancellations
may come in. But in many cases
the waiting lists already are so
long that person queue-ing up
at the tag end of a line has no
chance at all to get aboard.
The Chesapeake & Ohio reported
space mot sold out on any particu-
lar train" The Pennsylvania Rail-
road, formulating plans months ago,
has lined up equipment to provide a
number of extra sections. Some of
its trains, too, are booked solid. The
demand for rooms has been heavy
and has filled this type of space for
the peak days on number of the
roads smart trains. The Pennsyl-
vania hopes to meet the demand for
sleeping space, if passengers are not
too inflexible as to departure timing
Transcontiental lines report all
types of reserved space in heavy de-
mand. The banking up of reserva-
ton requests began a month or so
ago. Union Pacific. for example, re-
ports December IS through Is as
sell-out days Accommodations are
available (or were Wednesday, on
the 9th and 28th. UP trains are
practically sold out" for the holi-
day return dates of December 81 and
January l and 2.
Xxx
Seaboard and Atlantic Coast Line
will be running their winter trains
in ample time for pre-Christmas,
Florida bound travellers. Both lines
will step up their seasonal schedules
December IL. Atlantic Coast Line