RAILWAY FINANCE

Stratford Evening Post, Volume II, Issue 241, 12 May 1933, Page 5

RAILWAY FINANCE

Past Year's Figures HIGHER NET REVENUE Reduction in Expenditure ANALYSIS OF RETURNS Wellington, Today. Net revenue earned by the New Zealand Railways for the year ended March 31 last amounted to £850,544 as compared with £837,993 for the preceding 12 months.

This is much better than the Prime Minister, Rt. lion. G. W. Forbes, who was then acting as Minister of Finance, estimated in his Budget of last year. On that occasion Mr. Forbes estimated that railway revenue for the financial year would amount to £740,000, but returns published in last evening's Gazette show that this figure has been exceeded by £llO,544.

Tho favourable result of the past year's operations has been obtained in spite of the continuing and heavy fall in gross earnigs. Thus, last year, with tho gross earnings at £6,034,403, they were down on the previous year by £474,545, but as expenses at £5,183,859 were ' cut by £487,090, there was an improved net revenue of £12,551, In the hist two years the net; revenue has steadily increased from the low level of 1930-31, the figures (hundreds neglected) being as follow: 1930-31, £085,000; 1931-32, £838,000; 193233, £850,000.

An analysis of operating revenue and traffic shows that the revenue for the year was £5,339,075,, a decrease of £4-19,890, and that the number of passengers carried totalled 18,360,654, a drop of 784,826. Live stock, timber and other goods carried represented a tonnage of 5,490,686 tons, as against 5,824,811 tons in 1931-32. It is interesting to note that while railway passengers were fewer, passengers carried by the railways road motor services increased in numbers. In the past year the passengers carried by these services totalled 2,740,203, an increase of 355,593 on the year before. The road motor revenue increased by £5901 to £78,641 for the past year. Total operating expenses for the ;. •. ar are shown at £4,833,754, a decrease of £467,899. The total operating revenue amounted to £5,339,075, as against £5,758,965. Net operating revenue was £505,321, an improvement of £IB,OOO.

The capital cost of open lines at March 31 last was £51,424,833, as against £60,545,154 a year previously. For the four-weekly period ended March 31 last, the final four weeks for the past year, gross revenue amounted to £538,324, a drop of £125,943 on the corresponding four weeks' of last year. With expenditure at £427,453 there was a decrease of £57,395 Net revenue, therefore, totalled £110,871 as against £179,419 for the corresponding period of 1932,