RAILWAYS STATEMENT FOR 1927.

Horowhenua Chronicle, 28 September 1927, Page 7

RAILWAYS STATEMENT FOR 1927.

Financial Results Less Satisfactory.

Big Drop in Passenger Service.

In the annual Railways Statement presented by the Minister of Railways, the Right Hon. J. G. Coates, it is pointed out that though substantial progress has been made in most phases of railway activity, the financial results of the year’s work are not so gratifying .as those recorded last year. The following is a summary of the more important items of receipts and expenditure for the year # ended March 31, 1927, as compared with 1920: Year ended March 31 1927. 1926. Particulars. f. f. Total miles open, for traffic .. .... 3,164 3,138 Capital cost of open linos 49,183,916 47,608,676 Capital cost per mile 15,545 15,172 Gross earnings 8,434,654 8,460,762 expenses .. . 6,490,880 6,468,428 ■Met earnings 1,943,774 1,992,334Deficit .. .. 99,659 *21,023 Net earnings per mile 400 459 Net earnings per train-mile 28.32 d 33.14 d \ v Percentage of net earnings to capital invested .. 3.99 4.35 Percentage of operating expenses to earnings .. 82.96 81.23 Passengers carried .. .. .. 10,305,065 11,813,480 Season tickets 585,904 600,292 Goods tonnage 6,833,436 6,808,603 Train mileage .. .. 10,723,864 10,319,407

The report'in part reads as follows: The net revenue amounted to £1,943,774, which is equivalent to a return of 3.99 per cent, on all tne capital invested in lines open for traffic. This repre-

«ents a decrease of £48,560 compared with last year, but is higher by £169,540 than ttie forecast contained in nxy statement for , 1926,. upon which the railway estimates for this year’s Bud-

.get were based. The revenue includes £445,221 received from the Consolidated Fund (in iterms of the Government Railways Amendment Act, 1925) for services per-

formed in working such branch lin,es us, although beneficial for the development of the country, are not in themselves reasonably remunerative railway assets.

Out of the year's revemie has been .set aside the sum of £310,554 to .strengthen the available for renewals, depreciation, insurance, and

betterments, whilst a subsidy of £175,-

4100 has been paid to the Government Railways Superannuation Fund. £17,574

was also provided out of railway rev-■c-nue on account of (a) increased super-

annuation allowances granted to widows and children, and (b) the cost-of-living bonus paid to superannuated members ■in receipt of allowances amounting to less than £IOO per annum. This charge has hitherto been borne by the Consolidated Fund.

Apart from passenger traffic, there has been an increase of £98,627 in the net revenue derived from goods traffic -and other subsidiary services.

Interest charges increased by £130,122, this sum including £55,600 paid ■out of revenue on account of railwayimprovement works under construe■tion.

Railway operating expenditure decreased by £6,287, notwithstanding increases in wages and better conditions {estimated to cost £30,000) granted to the staff, and an increase of 4 per cent, made in train-mileage in order to provide improved services for - the public.

Costs per train-mile were 137.82 d as •compared with 143.37 d last year, and costs were also recorded under all other headings, excepting gen-

oral charges, where an increase of 0.56 d per mile, due to superannuation subsidies, is shown. The loss on the year’s

working was £99,659. This, after deducting the unappropriated surplus of ,£21,023 from last year, leaves the deficit .at £78,636. On the commercial side, too, I feel that many of the methods in use on the. Canadian and American railroads can be inaugurated here, and will be welcomed by the travelling public and business community. Passenger and freight work will be separated. Officers especially selected to attend to all passenger requirements will bo appointed at the main centres, and it will be their duty to meet tourists on arrival and see that opportunity is given them to utilise to the best advantage the lime at their disposal. An arrangement has been entered into with tho Postal Department whereby the mail agents on the mail-boats between Australia, New Zealand, Vancouver, and San Francisco can act as representatives of the Railway Department in assisting passengers bound for the Dominion to frame itineraries including a maximum amount of rail travel. The passenger agents will keep in close personal touch with all public activities, and generally occupy their time in iriflueneing people to travel by rail. Advertising Branch. This branch has been a Very remunerative one to the Department, and its machinery could, I believe, be advantageously extended to cope with all Government advertising, as well as in -other directions, I propose, therefore, to have all possible avenues of business fully explored. A good deal of opposition has arisen in certain parts of the Dominion to the erection of hoardings that are said to spoil many of the natural beauties of the countryside. Fully appreciatini as I do tho point of view whie!

prompts those expressions of opinion I desire to make it clear that the Department has laid it down as a policy that objectionable advertising is not to be sold, and that by co-operating with pub-

lic bodies the Department will endeavour to avoid criticism which may have a detriment effect on the Department’s advertising activities and other more important functions. There is still

ample scope for very extensive advertising activities and other more important functions. There is still ample scope for very extensive advertising business, the profits from which materi-

ally assist the Department in meeting its interest charges. Workshops Working Conditions. Dealing with the operations of railway workshops in United States and

Canada, the report states that after a full investigation—in which the employees took part, the Canadian railways decided that if the bonus system

has ceased to be either advantageous

or attractive, I was able to secure particulars of the scheme whilst visit-

ing the worshops at the Canadian National Railways at Montreal, and, con-

scquently, the superintendent of our workshops here has been able to adapt therefrom a plan very suitable to the conditions existing in the New Zealand railway workshops. Equipment of Stations.

In this direction also New Zealand

has much to look forw'ard to, if some of the modern facilities of the British, European, and American stations can be included in the new stations being

constructed here. The new Union station at Toronto is equipped with almost every conceivable convenience for the comfort of the travelling public. These included heated waiting-rooms, a

high-class dining-room, counter refreshments, baths, showers, barbers ’ shop, and many other public-utility services. Wellington’s new station, for instance, will be equipped with every modern convenience as passengers, must, of necessity, spend a good deal of time at this station in making connections

to and from the Wellington-Lyttelton, Wellington-Pictori, and Wellington-Nel-so ferry-steamers, and with train services to and from various parts of the

North Island. I believe it will soon be necessary, also, to reopen the question of provid-

ing passengers with meals on trains. This can be done by the reinstatement of dining-saloons and by the supply of hampers. I secured specimens of the latter as used on the British railways, and have, as a commencement, arranged for a supply to be placed in service on some of the expresses. Refreshment services, whilst being expected to pay, must also be looked upon as a very necesaiy service to the travelling public, and do offer, if fully utilised, a very valuable saving of time to busy men and women travelling by the express trains. It is, of course, anticipated that a higher standard and increased conveniences will cost a little more, but experience gained in other countries goes to show that where these arc desired by the travelling public and are provided by railway systems no objection is raised to charges being fixed reasonably to cover the improved service. Bail-Cars. It was very interesting to find that the New Zealand railways have gone as far as most countries I visited in experimenting with tlje possibilities of rail-cars. The branch-line problem in Great Britain and other places has resulted in the trial of these units, and many different types are in use. England has. adopted the steam-driven cars, whilst the Canadian National Railways are running storage-battery and, more recently, Diesel electric cars which are said to be giving every satisfaction. Petrol-driven rail-cars are more generally used in the United States. I had opportunities of travelling in the various types in different countries, and operating and maintenance costs were obtained. The tendency is to concentrate on single-man-control units in order to reduce operating costs, and

special investigations are being carried out by our designing engineers on the data that have been secured. There can be no doubt that ample scope is available in this country for the economic use of these vehicles. Fuel Research. A good deal of attention has been directed during the last year or two to the success achieved in Germany with regard to the. economic utilisation of lignite coals by the process known as low-temperature carbonisation. The matter has such an important bearing on the coal position in New Zealand that last year the Government obtained a full report from a prominent English fuel authority on the adoption of a similar scheme in New Zealand in connection with Waikato coal. The report,, together with full information of trial tests on the New Zealand railways of this fuel manufactured from Waikato coal, have been referred to a special council to consider all the data available on the subject and make recommendations to Government as to what course of action should bo followed.

Shortly, the process is to extract tar and other products from the coal, from which crude oil, petrol, &c., are distilled. The coke-like residue from the first low-temperature carbonisation process is pulverised and, with a small percentage of pitch mixed for a binder, is pressed into briquettes of various sizes. It is an interesting fact that the manufactured briquette (from which the oils have been extracted) is of a higher calorific value thap the raw coal, it has the further advantage of being smokeless, and not liable to spark when used in railway locomotives. Tariff Matters. The present railway tariff has been in force since August 30, 1925. It is now under review, and in pursuance of the policy to keep the tariff up to date it will be replaced by a new towards the end of the current year. With a view to further assisting in the development of the agx'icultlral and pastoral industry, a substantial reduction was made during the past year in the rates for artificial manure. That this concession, which dated from August 31, 1926, has brought about considerable increase in the quantity ,of artificial manures conveyed by rail is indicated by the fact that for the seven months ended March 31, 1927, 261,400 tons of this commodity were conveyed —an increase of 73,620 tons over the corresponding mouths in 1926. It is pleasing to note from the foregoing bow fully the farmers-of the Dominion have appreciated the reduced rate, and I antipicate that the resulting increased production will to some cxteiit compensate the Railway Department for the concession made.