D.—2

II

The loss on the Kawakawa Section has increased from £171 in 1900 to £185 in 1901, while that on the Nelson Section has decreased from £1,648 in 1900 to £1,531 in 1901. The net earnings of the Whangarei, Kaihu, Auckland, Wel-lington-Napier-New Plymouth, Westport, Westland, and Picton Sections have increased, and of Hurunui-Bluff Section decreased. The following extensions were opened for traffic, viz. : Waiotu to Hukerenui, 1 mile 24 chains ; Makarau to .Tahekeroa, 3 miles 6 chains; Eanfurly to Wedderburn, 8 miles 34 chains; Invercargill to junction of Seaward Bush line, 73 chains; Jackson to Otira, 11 miles 23 chains. (Vide Eeturn No. 22.) The alterations to train services and separation of goods and passenger trains on important lines, as announced in my last Statement, have proved satisfactory and beneficial to the travelling public. The journey-times of many of the trains have been materially reduced. I propose gradually extending the system of running separate goods and passenger trains as the business of the colony warrants. It should, however, be borne in mind that services of this description cost a very large sum annually, and can therefore only be granted in cases where the traffic is sufficiently large to pay the increased expense and the convenience of a large section of the travelling community necessitates the separation of the services. I give prominence to this matter owing to the continued demands that are made for faster and improved train services on many of the lines in the colony which are already excellently served by the existing arrangements, and on which the traffic neither warrants nor would pay for the additional trains. To meet the large and growing passenger traffic, and to provide better facilities for the travelling public, it has been found necessary to run additional mixed trains. This increase has not been confined to any particular part of the colony, but has been general to the whole. The mileage run by the additional mixed trains which have been permanently added to the time-table has amounted to 42,686 miles for the year, at a cost of £10,493. The running of the express trains between Auckland and Eotorua has been improved, twenty-five minutes having been taken off the journey. Passengers from Auckland thus reach Eotorua at 4.15 p.m. in place of 4.45 p.m., and leave Eotorua for Auckland at 8.45 a.m. in place of 8.20 a m. An hour and five minutes has been taken off the time occupied by the mail train to do the journey from Wellington to Napier, and the train now leaves Wellington at the convenient hour of 8.20 a.m. in place of 7.15 a.m. Fifty-seven minutes have been taken off the time occupied in doing the journey from Napier to Wellington, and the mail train now leaves Napier at 8.45 a.m. in place of 8.25 a.m., and arrives at Wellington at 7.53 p.m. in place of 8.30 p.m. The passenger-train service to Kingston (Lake Wakatipu) has been improved, forty-five minutes having been taken off the running-time of the through passenger train from Gore to Kingston, the train now arriving at the latter station at 5.30 p.m. in place of 6.15 p.m.; whilst thirty minutes have been taken off the running-time of the return train from Kingston to Gore, the train now leaving the former station at 9 a.m. in place of 8.30 a.m. This enables the connecting steamer to leave Queenstown at 6.30 a.m. in place of 6 a.m. On the Westland Section the train service in connection with the Eeefton, Westport, and Nelson coach services has been so improved and arranged that passengers can complete the through journey from Greymouth to Westport in one day in place of two days as formerly, and from Greymouth to Nelson in two days in place of three days. In order to keep a more effectual check on the late running of trains, I decided early in the year to have a record kept of the arrival of the principal trains at the various termini in the colony. For this purpose the train services were divided into three groups —the first consisting of express and through passenger trains; the second, suburban trains, made up of those trains running in connection with suburban city traffic ; the third, country trains, made up of the principal country or long-distance trains.. This record has been kept since the 23rd July, 1900, each four-weekly period being shown separately.