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Evening Star, Issue 25925, 17 October 1946, Page 4

extra £24,177 per annum, hut a greater loss than ever was recorded in 1939-40. The rationing of tyres : and • petrol helped the department during the war years, but now that controls- are being lifted, it is getting back to where it was in 1939, with further'greatly increased operating costs. . Tram rails which used to cost £17.. 10s, per ton,' are now £43 6s. 'The last increase in wages cost the tramway department over. £20,000 per annum, and'so, like most other places, Dunedin -had to look round for something better. “Trolly buses have proved a.marked success elsewhere. Adelaide, with only 60 trolley buses, had a surplus last year of £48,020. . The.latest figures that I have-had from Hobart show the operating expenses for trolley buses to bo 5d a mile less. than they are for trams;-which means on,our,yearly mileage a difference of oyer £50,000. ; “ I don’t know where Mr MacManus got his information with regard to some of the other matters he mentions. The widening of i King Edward street took place in 1907. ' The whole cost was paid out of a- municipal" loan, and no'portion was paid by the tramway department. “ Out of the surplus profit of £26,651 during the exhibition year, the tramways department contributed £B,OOO for the Town HaD. The balance of the cost was found by means of four yearly r contributions from the combined renewal funds of the council. The tramway department share of that contribution was £16,360. In the case of Mailer street widening, the tramway department share had to be found oufi of loan moneys.” ‘