CANADIAN RAILWAY ITEMS

Sun (Auckland), Volume IV, Issue 986, 31 May 1930, Page 10

CANADIAN RAILWAY ITEMS

SEVERAL IMPORTANT POINTS World's Fastest Train Traversing 334 miles between Montreal and Toronto in -360 minutes, including stops, the "International Limited” is, it is claimed by the Canadian National Railways, the fastest train in the world at that distance. It may be stated that this train covers the distance of 848 miles between Montreal and Chicago in 18 hours 15 minutes, and makes 28 stops at cities on route. £66 a Minute The wage bill of the Canadian National Railways works out at £66 a minute. Luring every minute of 1929 the C.N.R. performed a transportation service equivalent to moving 41,722 tons of freight and 2,666 passengers one mile. National Railway© Net Earnings The annual report of Sir Henry Thornton, president of the Canadian National Railways, was laid on the table of the House of Commons on April 8, says the "Times.” It covers the operation of the system in 1929. The final figures of the net operating earnings, £9,012,000, a decrease of 6 per cent, on 1928, due almost wholly to the slow export grain movement in the autumn months, are given. The decreased revenue from grain shipments totalled £ 3,000,000. The report states that in spite of heavy expenditure on equipment and maintenance of way and wage increases, the operating expenses were reduced by nearly £700,000, or 1.6 per cent. Railway's Wage Bill The railway’s wage hill for the year totalled £34,600,000, with an average number of employees of 109,096. The total assets of the system at the end oC 1929 were £46,600,000, an increase of approximately £24,000.000, as compared with the end of 1928. Luring the year approximately 300 miles of new track were laid, and 652 miles purchased from other companies. New Industries in Canada Mr. William Phillips, manager of the industrial department of the Canadian National Railways, states that 393 new’ plants were established on land adjacent to the company’s lines during 1929, the capital expenditure involved amounting to £14,820,000. Luring the same period 190 existing companies spent £6,700,000 in additions to their plants. There were also established on the lines in the Prairie Provinces 90 granaries. These figures are considerably in excess of those for 1928.