WORKING RAILWAYS

Otago Daily Times, Issue 22058, 14 September 1933, Page 10

WORKING RAILWAYS

LATEST FOUR-WEEKLY RETURN A SATISFACTORY POSITION. (Per United Press Association.) WELLINGTON, September 13. The chairman of the Railways Board (Mr H. H. Sterling) announced to-day that the preliminary figures for the working railways for the four-weekly period ended August 19, both expenditure and revenue, showed only negligible variations compared with last year. The figures were as follows: —Expenditure, increase, £185; revenue, decrease, £2588; —making the net revenue for the period £2773 less than for last year. For the period of the financial year from April 1 to August 19 the revenue showed a decrease of £12,016, and the expenditure a decrease of £44,604; making an increase in the net revenue of £32,588. Mr Sterling observed that the decrease in the gross revenue for the period was a little disappointing, although the amount of variation —namely, £2588 —on a turnover for the period of over £500,000 could hardly be regarded as having any great significance. Compared with the rates of decrease in revenue that had been experienced irf the last two years the smallness of the amount afforded some justification for holding that the revenue position was stabilising. The cessation of a decrease in expenditure also served to show that costs had now been reduced to an approximate minimum. It was gratifying to note that for the portion of the year to date the net revenue still showed on the right side as compared with last year.