A Salute to Commuters

In this week’s column I’d like to pay tribute to those noble souls who contend with horribly early starts every week day, commuting to and from Wellington on the train. I did the commute for about four years so I know it’s not an easy thing to do, especially in the winter when you leave and get home in the dark. In some ways commuters enjoy the best of both worlds, but it is not without cost, and their efforts and contribution to the local economy shouldn’t be underestimated.



People have been commuting on the train to Wellington for decades and the numbers have definitely grown over the past few years with hundreds travelling on each of the three morning trains. The refurbished carriages that were introduced in 2007 have certainly improved the journey making it a much more comfortable experience. Occasional disruptions to the timetable can be very frustrating though, and even when everything is working to schedule, it still makes for a long working day.


The one advantage of the long working day is the chance to make use of the enforced downtime. Many use this time as a chance to do some work or catch up on sleep, but many others use it as an opportunity to read. And that’s where we come in.


The train makes for a great place to read with comfortable seats and few distractions. I never read more books than when I was commuting and many commuters get through several books a week. Books, and in particular fiction, are wonderful for taking us to different worlds and realities, providing an escape from the drudgery of the daily commute.


And of course it’s not just printed books you can borrow to provide entertainment as you travel to and from work. We have a large range of talking books (or audio books) and these are available on compact discs, MP3 discs and some as downloadable files. If you have a laptop or portable DVD player you could also watch one of our DVDs on the train. An episode of Fawlty Towers or The Good Life may be just the thing to lift your mood coming home in the middle of winter. Whichever you choose, there are great options available for making use of your travel time.


While the library’s usual opening hours may not be that convenient for the majority of commuters, we are open until 8pm on Thursday nights and from 9:30am to 1pm on Saturdays. Hopefully these extended hours will provide commuters with a workable time to visit the library and select some items to borrow. Thursday night is a particularly good time to come in as it’s generally quieter than during the day and ideal for the whole family to come in and browse.


Commuters are much like tourists in the role they play in our region, earning their incomes elsewhere and spending it here in the Wairarapa. They represent a significant part of the Wairarapa’s workforce and the region would certainly feel the effect if they were all to give it away. The travel can definitely be a grind but hopefully the entertainment options available from the library can help make it a much pleasanter experience.


So, on behalf of those fortunate enough to both work and live in the Wairarapa, I’d like to say thank you to all those who make the not inconsiderable effort to commute over (or perhaps that should be under) the hill each day to work. And as a token of our appreciation, we’d like to offer a free rental DVD, audio book, or book from our Hot Picks collection to all those who commute each day on the train. Simply show us a current Wellington to Masterton Tranz Metro ticket either on Saturday the 2nd of April or Thursday the 7th, and you can borrow one free item from our collection. It’s just our way of recognising the contribution you make, and demonstrating how our books, DVDs and CDs can make it a little less onerous.

Jon Adams
Community Outreach Librarian
Masterton District Library