RAILWAY RETURNS.

Dominion, Volume 3, Issue 833, 3 June 1910, Page 4

RAILWAY RETURNS.

In tho Gazette of _ last night there are given the details of the working of the railways for the first four weeks of tho current fiscal year. This set of figures is more than usually interesting. The revenue and expenditure in the two islands are shown below: Net Revenue. Expenditure. Revenue. . £ £ £ South ... 154,656 94,024 59,633 North ... 147,396 91,876 55,520 The return in the South comes from 1574 miles of railway and the return in this island from only 1135 miles. Last yekr the corresponding figures were: Net Revenue. Expenditure. Revenue. .£.£.£ South ... 159,073 91,365 67,708 North ... 140,091 90.5C0 58,731 Although the South obtained this initial lead of about £9000 in 1909-10 the year ended with the North on top, not only relatively to mileage and capital (in which respects it utterly outdistanced the South), but even absolutely. So it will no doubt be this, year, with this difference, that the superiority of the North will probably be more marked than over. Wo give, according to our custom, tho returns per mile for the four weeks under review : Miles Net NetTevonue of rail, revenue. per mile. £ £ s. d. South ... 1,574 59,032 37 17 8 North ... 1,135 55,520 J8 18 3 To leave the comparison between the earning powers of tho two systems— the attention wo have given to it, by the way, has at last brought into lino a local contemporary that the other day was denying the facts and deploring the "parochial" spirit of our criticisms —there is a point worth a little notice. Tho net revenue for the whole system for April of this year (the four-wccldy period concerned) amounted to £115,152, as against £126,'139 in April of 1909— a very material falling-off, due to a diminished passenger traffic. Of this decrease oi the Northern

lines are responsible for £3211 and the Southern lilies for £8070. The falling-off of the net revenue from all lines is clue to a shrinkage of £7112 in gross revenue and a rise of £4175 iu gross expenditure. We do not like this, even though it is only for the first month of the year. Why should expenses rise when receipts fall?