NEW RECORD

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume 79, 17 August 1944, Page 3

NEW RECORD

RAILWAYS REVENUE GREATER TRAFFIC THAN EVER BEFORE RESULT OF WARTIME CONDITIONS Wellington, This Day. The annual Railways Statement which has been presented in the House of Representatives by the Minister of Railways, the Hon. R. Semple, shows that the amount of traffichandled during the year was greater than ever before in the history of the railways. New records were set in gross revenue, tonnage hauled and passengers carried. The rapid growth of railway traffic was attributed to war conditions. The report stated: “The financial results of the year’s operations may be regarded as entirely satisfactory. The gross revenue, £15.325,306. set a new record, exceeding that of last year’s revenue by £1,196,313 (8.47 per cent). Expenditure for the 12 months amounted to £12,757.336, an increase of £1,454,923 (12.87 per cent). “The net revenue of £2,567,970 showed a decrease of £258,610 (9.15 per cent), compared with 1942-43, and on a percentage basis the net return on capital was 3.71 per cent., as compared with 4.31 per cent last year. "(A factor in the increased expenditure which warrants special mention is the provision of £410,500 for deferred maintenance. During the war period the extraordinarily heavy volume of traffic has meant abnormal wear-and-tear on the rolling, stock, track and equipment generally, while the shortage of material due to war requirements, coupled with the difficult manpower situation, has necessarily meant that less renewal and replacement work could be done than would have been the case in time of peace. In such circumstances it is better, while railway finance is buoyant, to charge to working expenses an amount estimated to meet maintenance expenditure which would have been incurred but for wartime conditions rather than to make a more favourable showing for the present and load such costs on to the post-war period. “The amount of traffic handled during the year was greater than ever before in the history of the railways. The number of ordinary passenger journeys exceeded last year's record by 1,146,109 (6.67 per cent.), and the tonnage hauled also set a new record of 9,026,626 tons, an increase of 1.56 per cent, over last year’s figure. “Both the traffic handled and the revenue would have been substantially greater had it not, unfortunately, been necessary to impose restrictions on both goods and passenger traffic in Jan. uary of this year. Up till that time the results showed much greater increases over the comparable figures for last year than obtained at the end of the year. COAL POSITION “Following the mention of the restrictions which had to be imposed, it is of interest to note the heavy increase ,n the purchases and consumption of cocl by the railways since the outbreak of war. For the year ended 31st March, 1940, the purchases of New Zealand coal amounted, in round figures, to 490,000 tons, while for the year under review the purchases reached 615,000 tons; the consumption figures for coal used by the Locomotive Branch in the same years were 492,000 tons, as against 634,. 000 tons, an increase of nearly 29 per cent. "The staff position has been- eased somewhat by the return to railway duty of the 16th and 17th Railway Operating Companies, which had given splendid service overseas. There are still, however, 5,440 railwaymen serving with the Armed Forces, and the staff is still short of its pre-war strength by 2.123, or 8.24 per cent. While this gap remains, heavy demands will continue to be made on the railway employees but with the easing of the situation they have been able to overtake at least some of the overdue leave and enjoy a well-deserved rest. PROSPECTS “One cannot overlook the fact that the phenomenal increase in railway traffic during the last four years has been largely brought about by the wartime conditions, resulting, as they have, in a shortage of tyres and petrol, a shortage of coastal shipping, longer haulages due to the centralisation of shipping, and the heavy movement of Armed Forces personnel and military stores and equipment. During the year under review the revenue from both military fares and freights showed substantial increases, and fares from this source provided 34 per cent, of the total passenger revenue, while military freights provided over 9 per cent, of the total goods revenue. Under present conditions, and apart altogether from the present restrictions, it cannot be expected that the existing high level of traffic will be maintained. The war has departed farther and farther from our shores, and a substantial decrease in military fares and freights must be anticipated. No doubt some increase in production may be expected, but 1 do not think it can be nearly sufficient to counterbalance the loss. In view of these conditions, it would not be prudent to expect anything but a substantial reduction in net revenue for the coming year.”