RAILWAYS FINANCE.

Auckland Star, Volume LIII, Issue 190, 12 August 1922, Page 6

RAILWAYS FINANCE.

A SLIGHT nOßOWtitsJl .loss bowk io £t,ieo VtwA I;& DEFICIT^£ IS7)OOfIL ; _m* (By Telegraph.-Preg s Aawd.a.S WELLINGTON, A statement regarding the « "'. _■ position of the railways was _n a <fe? H. Guthrie. He said period from April 1 to June 24 _*»»* decrease in traffic on all section Westport. - e ?**pfe The total revenue was £lA3siu> against &1.C58.683 for the conS" period of 1921, a decreaseTffS In the North Island the £870,520 and the expense $,'.ff the expenditure absorbing 87.51 Mr sS of the revenue, as against 91.34 SL I™! in the corresponding period of lit The revenue of South Island ' i£Ltl£: £664,630 and expenditure MftSftg ratio of expenditure being 90.97 W-_> as against 104.60 per cent last total expenditure was £1,3«6.345 __t * per cent of the revenue, as conwiil* with 96.74 per cent last year. ""S^ The net revenue for the period *_~ £168,805, against £54,026 for the «i£ ponding period last year. . This rente! sents an improvement in net revenn. „# £114,779. On the has been a decrease on all sections eifcm Whangarei and the Lake W-J»tfen steamers. The net decrease on the Nortk Island lines is £134,021, and on tU South Island lines £104,291, makiiu. « total of £238,312. The decrease intla expenditure on the North Island Mia Trunk is £137,900, and on the Sonth Island mam line £94,206. ■ f • Allowing for interest at 3} per cent« Jie capital cost of the open lines, atfcrbri. mately £39,300,000, the position iVifldi. cated by the following statement of'tin working profit (or loss) on e»eh «e_tioit of the system, and the deficit after alio*, ing for interest:— XOKTH ISLAXD. .. Working Profit. Defclt Whangarei 7,e01». isim Kaihu _i 6* • 't5 Gisborne to?» .IS Main lines 117,702 -31,83 Total f108,T58 " C 4,3» SOUTH ISLAXD. . . Main lines 43,287 83.8*1 Westland 5,578 ttS» Westport 14,251 9.0i0» Nflson 1;T12» 5061 Plcton im 4._*t Lake Wakatipu .... 2,328* 2,791 Total „ £80,04? £108,419 Grand total £168,805 ___5T,«38 •Loss. ' ;■."■ The Minister stated that the defleit for the period of £157,658 equals £2199 a day. While the capital' cost of lines has increased from approximately £317,000,000 last year to year, the loss on operating has, been, nduced from £4770 a day in August, 1921, to £2160 a day on June 24, 1022, tad whereas in August last year the expenditure exceeded the revenue by £47331, the revenue for the current year np te June 24 exceeds . the expenditure hy £168,805, excluding interest. The. .Wai. ngarei, Kaihu, Gisborne, and.Nelson tpfr tions, and the Little .River,- SfethVeii, Mount Somers, and. Otago Central 1lh» show losses for the three month.. DECLINE IN TRAFFIC, -;. The falling-ofT of traffic; which 'first manifested itself at the beginning of July, 1921, still continues; Decreases si* general, and include both goods and pas* senger traffic, clearly indicating tbat tie people of the country are not spending the same amount of money, and that -avelling for pleasure has been largely discontinued, while goods traffic has b.ea detrimentally affected by the reduction in the quantity of sawn timber preientett for carriage by rail. Mr. Guthrie added that the department is continuing the policy of rigid economy and saving effected by the curtailment of train services, which is itfleeted in the reduced expenditure of £238,312 for the three months. Included in this is £104,903, representing the reduction in the wages bill for the period.