SPRINGBURN LINE

Ashburton Guardian, Volume 50, Issue 268, 26 August 1930, Page 6

SPRINGBURN LINE

DEPUTATION’S REPORT. THE FINANCIAL RETURNS. SOME INTERESTING FIGURES. A meeting of settlers to consider the report and recommendations of the delegates who went to Wellington to meet the Minister of Railways (the Hon. W. A. Veitch) in connection with the proposed closing of the Springburn' line, was held last evening in the Staveley Hall. Mr D. Stevens presided. The two local delegates, Mr A. Robertson and Mr F. Fagan, reported on the lines of what had already appeared in the papers. They stated that they had been given a very cordial hearing by Mr Veitch, who seemed inclined to keep the railway going if the district promised sufficient support. They stressed that if the district wanted to keep the line open it should appoint a vigilance committee, as hinted by the Minister. ' This was agreed to, and Messrs if. Kennedy (organiser), E. E. Burgess (Staveley), G. Fittock (Bushside), F. Fagan and J. McFarlane (Alford Forest), D. Stevens (Buccleugli) and A. Robertson (Springburn) were appointed. It was stated that there was no truth in the rumour that the line was to remain open definitely for a year, but that the Minister had asked for a general guarantee that the district should use the railway as its transport system. *lt was decided to write letters of thanks to Mr T. D. Burnett, M.P., and Mr H. C. B. Withell (County chairman). Votes of thanks to those who had helped locally were also passed.

Some Profit and Loss Figures.

Some astonishing figures relative to the working cost and average revenue of the Springburn branch railway, particularly in comparison to the portion it was proposed to close, were placed before the meeting. It was explained that when it was decided to give evidence before the Railway Commission, and the committee consisting or Messrs K. I. Robertson, G. Fittock and H. Rutherford was appointed tor that purpose, the first effort was to obtain figures as to the traffic and revenue. I 1 rom the stationmnstei at Mount Somers were secured official figures relative to the four-nnle section it was proposed' to close, but for figures dealing with the whole branch the committee liad to telegraph to W ellington, and these did not arrive until the end of last week. The revenue for last year tor tlie four miles (Mount Somers to Springburn was £io43, which gives an average of £260 per mile. These figures do not include cream and parcel freights. The figures obtained from Wellington for the same period gave the average revenue per mile for the whole biancii (28 miles) as £195. After deducting the revenue for the section between Mount Somers and Springburn the average revenue per mile for the remainder of the branch fell to £lB4. It was stated that a similar comparison of losses on the two sections could not lie made because the costs of relaying were included in the figures from Wellington. The* Minister had, however, told the deputation that the loss on the local section was £IOO per mile per annum. The official figures showed the following results of the business on the branch, until the corresponding figures for the last year, in which there was no relaying:—

It was also stated that the average cost of maintaining the line was about £l5O per mile. , . , There were expressions ot astonishment that it had been the intention to close the section which was giving the greatest- amount of freight, while continuing to give a daily service over the rest of the branch.

1 1930. 1929. £ £ Loss on working 7,050 2,565 Loss including interest 10,133 5,563 Revenue per mile ... 195 203 Working expenses (mile) 447 295 Interest per mile 111 107