RAILWAY GAINS

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXIX, Issue 21297, 26 September 1932, Page 8

RAILWAY GAINS

With the return showing the result of railway working up to August 20, the first 20 weeks of the present financial year are covered. The- result is an impi'ovement in net revenue of £62,926, compared with the position at the corresponding time last year. The actual figures are £214,899 up to August 20, 1932, and £151,973 to August 15, 1931, the difference of five days resulting from a necessary adjustment of the railway accounting system to the calendar year. The results for this year do not include the Easter holiday period, as those of last year did, this feature making the improvement shown all the more satisfactory. Of the five returns produced so far, two for the four-weekly periods ended May 28 and June 25 failed to show an improvement over the corresponding figures in 1931. For the period ended July 23, a working loss of £28,223 in 1931 was transformed into a profit of £4467 this year. Similarly, in the last four weeks to be accounted for, ending on August 20, the improvement has been to substitute a working profit of £18,179 for a loss of £31,547. A few weeks ago the general manager said that traffic appeared to be on the mend. For the July and August periods of this year the fall in revenue has been considerably less than the returns last year showed in comparison with 1930. This is an important point. Up to the present the returns for the current year are comparable for that part of 1931 prior to the application of effective economics in expenditure by the Railways Board. Consequently there is opportunity for making a better showing simply through saving in outgoings. That is how almost the wholo ol the improved results noticeable since October last year have been achieved. It is reassuring to find that losses can be overtaken in this fashion, but the field for savings is not illimitable. The point must be reached when more revenue would be indispensable if a better showing was to be made. In such circumstances the best feature of this year's working can be found in the possibility furnished by the last two returns that the shrinkage in revenue has been partially arrested.