OUR RAILWAYS

New Zealand Times, Volume XLIX, Issue 11293, 19 August 1922, Page 7

OUR RAILWAYS

DEGREASE IN REVENUE BUT BIGGER DEGREASE IN EXPENDITURE. NET REVENGE IMPROVES .£16*,287. An important statements showing an improvement in the position of the New Zealand railway©, wa© made in the liou*© of Representatives yesterday by tiie Minister in charge (the Hon. D. Guthrie). The four periods ending Ju</ iln d lost, show, as compared wit a tno corresponding periods of last year, aa improvement in til© net revenue oi Xltt/297. “liie following/' stated the Minister, "is the result oi working the New Zealand railways lor the lour periods ending July 22nd. 1322, compared with the corresponding period of last year: —.lotat revenue J 61.965.750 as against j£!,124.»*for the corresponding periods of 1921decrease in revenue, Jt10fc.992. On the expenditure side, the total for the four periods of 1922 i* £1, 796,562, and for the corresponding period last year —a decrease of Jg 323,279. NORTH AND SOUTH ISLANDS COMPARED. “The following figures show the position of tne North and South Island lines:— Percentage of working Rev, Expend, exes to rev. £ £ 1922. 1921. N.I. lines 1,118,422 1,000,459 89.45 5.1, lines 847,328 796,103 93.95 10*.'* 1,965,750 1,796.562 91.39 99.77 ''The percentage of working expenses to revenue in the North Island declined 4.48, and in the South Island 13.78. For all lines the decrease is 8.38. On the revenue side, all sections in the North Island show a decrease, the aggregate amount being J 6139358 tNorth Island Main Trunk, J 8132,738). In the South Island, the Westport section of railway and the L»k© Wakatipu steamer® show increases, while the remaining four sections of railway show a decrease. Ih® aggregate decrease in the South Island J 619.134 (South Inland Main line, £ll,670). The net revenue for the four period© u *8169,188 against last year. Tbis represents an improvement iu the net revenue of .£164,287. EXPEND ITtJBB FALLS £323,279. “On the expenditure side, there is decrease on all sections except Whangarei and the Lake Wakatipu steamers, the net decrease in the North Island being £185,949 and in the Bouth Island £137,334 making a total of .£323,279. Comparing the four weeks ending July 22nd witd. the four weeks of the corresponding period last year, the revenue on the North Island lines decreased by -£29,391 (North Island Main Trank, -£28,847)■ while the South Island lines show a decrease of £6067 (South Island main line, .£5181); the total decrease in revenue for the four wepts was, therefore. £35,458. For the same .period the expenditure on the North Island lines decreasd by £51,924 and on the Bouth island lines by £B3,o43—making the total deers see for the four weeks £84,967. "The lines which show a net Revenue for the four months are.— Percentage of Net expenditure revenue. to Section— £ earnings. North Island main lines 128,955 88.11 South Island main lines 31A14 35.61 Westland 5£87 89.72 • Westport ..... 18,456 - - 56A7 Picton 379 96.98 £185,491 / "The expenditure exceeded the revenue cn the following lines:— Excess of Percentage expenditure of over expenditure revenue. to £ earnings. Whangarei 8,717 MIS' " Kaihu 796 135£3 Gisborne 1,459 113.72 Nelson 2,916 1*126 Lake Wakatipu steamers 4,486 19429 £18,344 Net revenue £185,491 Expenditure £18,344 Excess of revenue over expenditure for the four periods ... £167,147 DEFICIT £2758 A DAT. ‘'Allowing for interest at 32 per cent, on the capital cost of the open lines, approximately £38,300,000, the position is indicated by the following figures:— Deficit. Profit. £ £ Whangarei 18,825 Kaihu 1,932 Gisborne -—. 9,419 N.L Main lines 5.1. Main lines ...... 140,410 Westland 19,321 Westport Nelson 8,048 Picton Lake Wakatipu steamers 2£99 278,5(0 11,463 Less profit 11,468 Total deficit 267,073 Per day "The loss on the operating has been reduced from £4770 per day in August, 1921, to £2753 per day on July g2nd, 1922. “Whereas for the four-weekly period ending July 23rd last year the expenditure exceeded the revenue by £49,125, the revenue for the four weeks ending July 22nd, 1922, was in credit to the extent of £384; this, notwithstanding the fact that during the four-weekly period the traffic had declined by £38,458, thus reducing the effect of the very material reduction that had been made in the expenditure. "BOTTOM NOT TET TOUCHED," “In addition to the Whangarei, Kaihu, Gisborne and Nelson sections, there are 26 branch lines in the North and South Islands which are earninjp insufficient revenue to pay the bare cost of operating, despite the reductions that have heen ; introduced to effect economies. These lines have been unprofitable to the department for a considerable time, and will contince so for many years; and in some cases there is not the slightest hope of the traffic on the lines ever attaining sufficient volume to pay working expenses. leaving interest on the capital cost altogether out of the question. “The economies which have been brought into operation are reflected in the decrease in expenditure of £323£79. There is, however, no indication that the, limit in the decline of traffic has yet been reached; and, until the bottom is touched in this respect, no material improvement in the results of operating can be expected." ■kfr A. Harris (Waitemata) asked whether the figures quoted allowed for the interest charges. . The Minister: Yes; they allow for interest on capital. If that were left out the railways have made a profit, there being an excess of revenue over expenditure of £164.000. Dr Thacker (Christchurch Hast) asked whether the department was using imported coal. If so, that, he thought, would account for the great cost of running. Mr Guthrie replied that the department was graduallv working off the imported coal.

Of the hundreds of children, between three and aix years of age, examined in a London school clinic, none enjoyed the amount of sleep decreed as necessary by the doctors.