D.—2

XII

North Island Main Line and Branches. • Revenue, £2,158,101; increase, £122,104. The principal items of traffic were : — Number. Number. Passengers .. .. .. ..7,196,283; increase, 264,761 Season tickets .. .. .. .. 182,706; „ 16,820 Parcels, &c. .. .. .. .. 674,325; „ 37,490 Live-stock .. .. .. .. 3,811,375; „ 1,078,772 Goods.. .. .. .. .. 1,874,245; „ 95,240 The annual revenue per mile of railway rose from £1,884 3s. sd. for 1912-13 to £1,976 ss. 7d. for 1913-14. During the last four years it has increased by £504. The revenue per train-mile decreased from Bs. to Bs. Id. The increase of passenger revenue was £5,135. A portion of the increase in live-stock is due to the delay in forwarding sheep to the freezingworks last year in consequence of the strike of slaughtermen. For the twelve weeks ended 31st March, 1913, there was a decrease as compared with the same period of the preceding year of over 310,000 sheep, while the first twelve weeks of 1914 show an increase of over 300,000. Auckland District (to lloropito). —Revenue, £881,343; increase, £32,117. There was a large increase (237,538) in the number of passengers, chiefly in the vicinity of Auckland, but the passenger revenue shows a decrease owing to the issue of holiday-excursion tickets to Auckland during the currency of the Exhibition and the loss of Easter traffic. Parcels increased by 38,145, chiefly cream traffic. The increases in live-stock were —Cattle, 2,542; calves, 3,173; sheep, 67,698; pigs, 9,793. Grain and minerals show increases of 24,807 tons and 26,211 tons respectively, the latter chiefly road-metal. Chaff, wool, firewood, and merchandise also show improvement, but there was a slight decrease in timber. Wanganui District (to Ohakune). —Revenue, £457,997; increase, £25,462. There was a decrease of 17,000 passengers owing to loss of Easter traffic and the restrictions placed upon the travel of Maoris. Parcels traffic improved. There was a large increase (432,000) in the number of sheep carried. Timber decreased by over 11,000 tons, and grain by 9,700 tons. Other classes of traffic show an improvement. Wellington District. —Revenue, £818,761; increase, £64,525. Passengers increased by 44,000 and season tickets by 4,300. Parcels traffic shows a slight reduction. There were increases of 9,000 cattle and 543,000 sheep. Chaff, &c, increased by 8,600 tons, wool by 4,700 tons, grain by 5,200 tons, and merchandise by 23,600 tons. The increase in merchandise was caused by later shipments of frozen meat for the previous season, and the distribution of coastal cargo by rail during the strike. There were decreases of 2,300 tons of timber and 24,000 tons of minerals due to the temporary stoppage of building operations and of the importation of coal. Picton Section. Revenue, £32,250; increase, £858. Passenger revenue decreased £700. There was an increase of 46,500 sheep, 7,000 tons of chaff, and 1,500 tons of grain. Wool, merchandise, and minerals show decreases. The Wairau bar has been good throughout the year. Nelson Section. Revenue, £31,911; increase, £2,764. Passengers show a decrease, but there has been a general improvement in the goods traffic, the principal increase being 2,347 tons of merchandise. Westport Section. * Revenue, £102,325; decrease, £22,151. The loss of revenue was chiefly due to a decrease of 155,087 tons of coal during the strikes. Westland Section. Revenue, £137,114; decrease, £7,609. Passengers show a decrease of over 13,000 in number, but a slight increase in revenue, the through bookings to East Coast and Auckland making up the revenue, while the loss of Easter holiday traffic, and the shrinkage of local traffic during the strike, caused the decrease in numbers. The stoppage of coal and timber traffic was the cause of the decrease in revenue. South Island Main Line and Branches. Revenue, £1,503,626; decrease, £29,985. The principal items were: — Number. Number. Passengers .. .. .. .. 5,107,456; increase, 17,200 Season tickets .. .. .. .. 97,518; „ 5,109 Parcels, &c. .. .. .. .. 709,801; „ 24,974 Live-stock .. .. .. .. 3,139,965; „ 340,804 Goods.. .. .. .. ..2,304,215; decrease, 166,443