RAILWAY REVENUE.

Taranaki Daily News, 25 March 1935, Page 6

RAILWAY REVENUE.

The'latest returns of railway earnings and expenditure show that the forecast of the board ife likely to be correct, and that the recovery in revenue has continued throughout the year. The board expressed the hope that the increase in earnings would make it possible for the earned contribution to interest payments to be as large as it was last year in spite of the fact that expenses had been increased by £166,000, the cost of the restoration of five per cent, of the cuts made in wages and salaries and of reducing the rentals of departmental houses occupied by the staff. Only one more four-weekly period remains in the current financial year, and if the board s estimate is to be realised the working profit for that period must be £163,075, as against £119,356 last year. As there will be no special holiday traffic in that period, and, as in view of the approach of Easter there may be a falling away of support of special excursions in the meantime, a good deal is being expected of the last period. Whether the board’s hopes are to be realised exactly or not the revenue this year indicates a steady recovery in railway earnings since the worst period in 1930-31, when political control was abandoned. In one respect the recovery has been greater than the figures ’indicate. The relations between industry, the travelling public and the department were never better than they are to-day. The railway service is unceasing in its endeavours to obtain increased business, it shows a willingness to meet special conditions, and the courtesy that is expected of any well-run industrial organisation is always obtainable. The journey back to railway prosperity may be long, but steady progress along the road is the record for the year that will end next week.