OUR RAILWAYS.

Lake County Press, Issue 979, 12 September 1901, Page 2

OUR RAILWAYS.

THE MINISTER’S STATEMENT. SPLENDID RESULTS. [Thom the Dunedin Evening Stah.] WELLINGTON, September 4. The Minister of Railways (the Hon. Sir J. G. Ward) presented ids second statement to Parliament this afternoon. It begins with the gratifying announcement that the year's operations have again been most satisfactory, and show a very large increase on the business of the preceding record year. Two thousand two hundred and twelve miles of line were opened for traffic, against 2,104 on the previous year. The revenue for 1900-01 was £1,727,236. an increase of £105,346. The working expenses for the past year were £1,127,848, an increase of £75,490. and the increased net return for the year was consequently £27,856. The interest earned on the capital cost of construction had increased from 5.42 per cent, for 1899-1900 to 3.48 per cent, for the year ended March 31, 1901. The interest earned on the capital cost by the railways in the Commonwealth States was ; Victoria 3.07 per' cent., Queensland 2.67, South Australia 3.51, Tasmania 1.11, New South Wales 3.63. and Western Australia 5.80. The net earnings of the Whangarei, Kaihu, Auckland, Wellington, Napier. New Plymouth, Westport, Westland, and Picton sections have increased, and that of the Hurunui-Hluff decreased. The alterations in train services and the separation of goods and passenger trains on important lines, announced last year, have proved satisfactory and beneficial to the travelling public. The ordinary times of many of the trains have been materially reduced. The Minister proposes gradually extending the system of running separate goods and passenger trains as the business of the colony warrants. Such services can only he granted, however, in cases where the traffic is sufficiently large to pay the increased expense. The convenience of a large section of the travelling community necessitates the separation of services. The work of equipping the rolling stock with the Westinghouse brake is now being proceeded with jis rapidly as possible, and it is anticipated that mail trains so fitted will shortly be running to New Plymouth and Napier. Two hundred and three second class cars have been fitted with cushions during the year. Fool warmers have also been obtained and supplied to the express trains running in the South Island. The arrangements indicated have added considerably to the comfort of passengers, and it is intended to extend them until all cars are similarly equipped. The I’intsch system of lighting has been extended during the year, and now 502 cars and vans are so equipped. The cost of production of the gas was per 100 cubic feet less than for the previous year. The concessions made on .Tune 24, 1900, in ordinary and suburban passenger fares, season ticket rates, workers’ weekly tick ets on suburban lines, etc., was equivalent to a rebate of £75,000. based on the existing charges and traffic for I he previous year. The result of these reductions exceeded the most sanguine expectations, the increase in the passenger traffic—viz.. 775,309 passengers, and 19,586 season tickets—being a record one. The increased revenue from these sources was £29,957. An average of 7,793 men were cm ployed on the railways, as compared with 7,236 for the previous year. Of the 2,662 casual laborers employed in the traffic department and insured against accident at a cost of £sll, and charged to working expenses, seventy-nine were injured ami received compensation. During the year one laborer and seventeen members of (be permanent staff resigned, thirty-seven died, thirty-eight were retired, thirty-three were, dismissed, and 631 engaged. Substantial concessions in regard to wages and hours of labor have been made in the railway stall’ during the year. The cost of (he special allowance of wages (6d ner day to laborers and others in receipt of 6s 6d per day, and for tradesmen and other workshop employes) amounts for (he year to £20,951. During the year the sum of £4,253 has been paid as compensation allowances to memlicrs retired from the service and to the relatives of deceased members of the service. The gross revenue for tlie year lias exceeded the estimate by £167,236. 775.309 more ordinary passengers were carried. I lie increased revenue derived therefrom being £28,259. The season-ticket revenue, has also increased by £1.697, and the number of season tickets issued increased to 19.586. Ordinary passengers have increased by 14 per cent., and the revenue derived therefrom by 6 per cent. Holiday, school, and factory excursion traffic still continues to give satisfactory

results, the traffic from these sources giving an increased revenue of £7.161 for the year. The increased goods traffic represents 211,813 tons, wool alone showing a decrease. The total revenue derived from goods and live-stock traffic was £1.109,548, an increase of £69,166 over the receipts for the preceding year. £525,052 has been expended in respect of additions to rolling stock, improvements to station buildings and accommodation, permanent way, and structures. The expenditure includes strengthening bridges, safety and interlocking appliances, new rolling stock, the conversion of obsolete types of engines and carriages into up-to-date stock, fitting Westinghouse brakes on the Wellington-Napier-New Plymouth section, and lighting the Petonc Workshops by electricity. During the time the Midland Railway has been worked by the Government as a trust, the net revenue per annum, with a higher scale of charges than is now in operation, barely exceeded £5,000 in any one year. Up to the present, the traffic has not increased to any appreciable extent, while the freight charges have been very materially reduced, and it may therefore he assumed that the net result of the working of the Midland Railway for the nine months it has been in the hands of the Government would not add more than £4.000 to the revenue of (lie Government railways. Special attention is directed to this matter in order to dispel any feeling that the inclusion of tlio earnings of the Midland line lias inflated the net revenue of the Government lines, or materially affected the result of the year's working CONCLUSION AND FORECAST.

Under tins head Sir .1. G. Ward say*: The value of freight concessions made by the Government since the resumption of control of the railways in the colony in 1895 is estimated to be approximately £420,239 up to 51st March, 1901. The regulations have been interpreted, and are interpreted, on a more liberal basis than heretofore, and the results of tire year’s working show conclusively that the people of the colony recognise and appreciate the efforts that have been made to induce traffic, and to popularise and make the railways the principal and indispensable medium of intercommunication between the various portions of the colony. In continuation. therefore, of the policy enunciated in 1896—viz., that a 5 per cent, return having been secured from the railways. reductions should Ire made in freights on New Zealand products—the Government have determined to make further concessions. These will embrace reduction of passenger fares on the Kaihu section, reduced rates for small lots of dairy produce, butter, poultry, eggs, bacon, cheese, manures, and wool ; the abortion of the charge as for an additional five miles on all traffic passing over the Kimutaka incline : and the continuation of the free carriage of lime for manuring farm lands. The value of the proposed concessions is estimated at £30.000. It is considered that the time has now arrived when a daily mail train service should be inaugurated between Wellington and New Plymouth. and with this end in view I have given instructions that, commencing on the Ist of November, mail trains shall run daily between Wanganui and New Plymouth, thus securing a through daily connection between Wellington and ' New Plymouth. The speed of the mail trains will at the same time be accelerated, so as to very materially shorten the time in the journey between the stations named. The railway traffic has increased so rapidly and enormously during the last six years that it lias iii many places practically outgrown the carrying capacity of our lines, which were originally intended as the pioneers of settlement, and were not built to succesfully cope with a business such as now exists in many parts of the colony. There is every indication that the business of the railways will still continue to increase very largely, and it is therefore imperatively necessary that steps be at once taken to make provision for dealing with the trade of the colony in an efficient manner. This can only be successfully and economically accomplished by equipping the lines with the latest safety appliances, and by practically reconstructing, and in some cases duplicating, the lines. A considerable portion of the rails in different parts of the colony require replacing with heavier metals to admit of the use of engines of the more powerful type. In my last year's statement 1 indicated the lines that would first require to be duplicated, and also the amount of funds necessary to enable the work of improving and strengthening the lines and structures being undertaken and carried out in a comprehensive and satisfactory manner, and 1 would again urge that serious consideration be given to the question of providing funds for tinworks indicated, which are matters of vital importance to the colony and its railways. Notwithstanding the fact that the workshops are kept busily engaged in building rolling stock, and that a very large number of operatives are employed at the works, the capacity of our workshops is not equal to the requirements of the business of the railways, and it has become abundantly evident that the workshops must be considerably enlarged in order that the building of rolling stock may be retained in the colony and the stock itself turned out with greater expedition. The fact that the New Zealand railways are composed of so many small and isolated sections renders their successful management a matter of some difficulty, and adds very materially to the working expenses, and thereby affects the result of the working of the railways as a whole. It is therefore very desirable, in the interests of the colony, that where possible these small sections should be joined and made into continuous lines. The Kawakawa, Whangarei, Picton. and Nelson sections are cases in point. Each of these sections has its mv resident officer in charge, and in addition special officers are required to make frequent visits at very considerable cost. The possible distance that traffic can be carried on such sections is also so very short that high rales must of necessity be charged, and even then some of the lines cannot be made to pay more than bare working expenses with the exercise of the most rigid economy. The increase in the cost of railway materials and of labor has had a very considerable effect upon the working expenses for the past year, the increased expenditure under this head for the maintenance branch alone being £20.0-18 over last year. While the Government are most anxious to obtain a regular supply of sleepers of suitable New Zealand timbers, it. in at the same time absolutely necessary that a proper margin of safety should exist in our lines, and this can only be obtained by the use of the very best class of material available. It is, moreover, an incontrovertible fact that notwithstanding the elforls of (he Government to obtain, and its willingness to pay, an enhanced price for a regular supply of suitable New Zealand sleepers, the demand remains unsatisfied, and the quality of the sleepers has deteriorated to such an extent that rigid inspection lias had to be insisted on in the interests of public safety. The inferior quality of the sleepers now offered is evidenced by the large number rejected by the inspectors appointed to examine them. New Zealandgrown sleepers are employed in every instance where they can be obtained and used without imperilling the safety of the line, and in order to increase the life of the sleeper the department has recently obtained two creosote plants for treating the sleepers prior to their being laid on the

track. The visit to this colony of contingents of the Imperial and Indian Troops led to a very large passenger traffic to tlie various centres visited by the troops. It .also necessitated the conveyance of the troops from one end of the colony to the other by train on very short notice, and made very great demands on the railway staff. The difficulties were accentuated by the shortage of rolling stock suitable for carrying passengers. 1 am. however, pleased to be able to place on record the fact that the whole of the arrangements were carried out in an entirely satisfactory manner, and reflected the greatest credit on the whole of the railway staff of the colony. In view of tlie reductions contemplated in fares and freights. [ estimate the revenue for the year ending March 31. .1902, at £1,760,000, and the expenditure at £1.152.000.