OUR RAILWAYS.

Dominion, Volume 5, Issue 1530, 28 August 1912, Page 5

OUR RAILWAYS.

LAST YEAR'S WORKING

INCREASED-PROFITS

EARNINGS CONSTITUTE A RECORD.

The Railways Statement for the. year ending March 31, 1912, was presented to the House of Representatives yesterday by the Hon. W. H. Herrics (Minister for Railways). .The- statement opens with an announcement that tlio results of the year's operations have been satisfactory. Th« earnings exceeded those of the preceding year by ,£182,327, and are the highest yet obtained in the history of the railways of the''Dominion. The results are summarised thus:— Year 1912. Year 1911. £ £ Total earnings • 3,670,509 3,494,182 Total expenditure ... 2,46»,896 2,303,2(2 Net profit on working ... .£1,210,613 £1,190,910 Open Lines and Extensions. The mileage of line open for traffic on .March 31, 1912, was 2808 miles, as against 2761 for the previous year. The average miles operated during the year was 2801 miles. . The following extensions were opened for traffic during the year:— 11. ch. Kawakawa-Towai 20 50 Soddon-Ward '. • U 55 YV'aimahaka-Tokanui 8 26 Kiororoa-Onerahi ' •■ 2 60 '46 31 : The capital cost of lines open for traffic, including plant and steamers on Lake Wakatipn, has increased from X29,606,51G to ' A , v . The net revenue (£1,210,613) is equal to a return of 3.93 per cent, on the capital invested in the open lines and 3.70 per cent, on the capital (£32,689,179) invested in opened and unopened lines. The number of train-miles run during the year was 8,371,687, being an increase of 230,612 over the previous year. The increased train-mileage represents additional 'train facilities to meet the requirements of the increasing business and to meet the public convenience, and has cost over £67,000. Passenger Traffic. The passenger traffic increased very materially, the number actually carried being 11,891,131, an increase of 690,521 over the previous year. Season.tickets issued numbered 236,957, an iucrease of 14,853. The number of workers' twelve-trip tickets issued was 49,076, and of workers' weekly tickets available on suburban lilies 129,524, an increase of 2,698 twelve-trip and 7800 workers' weekly over the previous year; 810,473 passengers travelled at 'holi-day-excursion fares, an increase of 157,014 when compared with last year, and 134,825 passengers travelled at the school and factorv rates. The coaching traffic shows increases under each of the headings under which the traffic is grouped. The increases have been—Parcels, 72,546; horses, 373; carriages, 50; dogs, 3394.

Goods Traffic. In goods traffic, firewood shows an in crease- of 1036 tons;, timber, 91,306 tons merchandise, 2723 tons; minerals, 21,53! tons. Thore were decreases in the live stock traffic, as follow: Cattle and calves 3302 head; sheep, 456,848 head; 13,111 head. Chaff, lime, etc., decreased hj 6752 tons; wool, 1640 tons; and gram 63,743 tons. . The decrease in the live stock traffic n mainly due to the unfavourable weathe: preventing the stock coming forward, ant a further delay was caused in the Mel lington end Wanganui districts owing t< a temporary stoppage of the operation at the freezing works caused by labou: troubles. In previous years there wa: also considerable movements of stock n the South Island on account of shortnes: of feed. The decreaso in the grain traffic is ow ing to the partial failure of the gvaii crop in portions of the South Island las season and to the lateness of the curren season. It is, however, expected tha traffic under 1 this heading will show bet ter results this coming year. Statistics of Employment. The average number of men employei on the railways during the year w.a 13,523, against. 12,881 for the previou year. . , ' Twelve members of the Second Divisioi were promoted to the First Division. Five hundred and four members of th permanent staff resigned, 67 retired oi superannuation,.. 33 died, 72 were dismiss ed. and 916 engaged. The sum of £8822 was. paid during th year under the Workers' Compensatioi for Accidents Act. , Rolling Stock.' .The rolling stock was increased by 1 locomotives, 46 carriages. 8 bogie brakevans. 477 trucks, and 723 tarpaulins. Of the locomotives, 8 were built in tho railway workshops—viz., 4 Class Ba tender engines for goods traffic, and 4 Class Wg tank engines. The remaining six were Class Ad 72-ton four-cylinder balancedcomponnd, built under contract by Messrs. A. and G. Price (Limited), Thames. Revenue. The gross revenue for the year amounted to 3,676,509, and exceeded tho estimate by .£151,509, and the gross revenue for the. preceding year by £182,327. Passenger revenue shows an increase of £81,531; season tickets, £14,173; coaching traffic, £9541; goods and live stock, £71,706; miscellaneous and rents, £5373. The receipts per train mile amounted to Bs. 9£d., as against Bs. Rid. for the previous year. The earnings of the lake Wakatipn steamers amounted to £GG69, as against £6643 last year. The net earnings amounted to £133 per mile for the average numbei" of miles open, and gave a return of 3.98 per cent, on tho capital cost. Expenditure. The expenditure for tho year, including £5997 incurred in connection with the lake Wakatipu steamers, amounted to £2,465,896, an increase of £162,624 over tho previous year, and absorbed G7.07 per cent, of thex cvcnu . e > as against 65.92-per cent, for the previous year. / Per cent. Expenditure. of revenue 1911-12 1910-11 1911-12 1910-11 £ £ Traffic 670,632 631,380 18.27 18.10 Locomotive 952.452 875,282 25.96 25.10 Maintenance 735,546 693.445 20.04 19.89 Management 101,239 98,136 2.76 2.81 4 : 2,459,609 2,298,243 67.03 65.90 Lake Wakatipu steamers .. 5,937 5,029 0.04 0.02 2,465,806 2,303,272 67.07 65.92 Cost of Maintenance. The cyst of maintenance of lines buildings, srriicturos, safety appliance?. et<-.\ has increased from £693.445 to £735,546. representing an avenge expenditure of £263.46 against £2J3.o J i per mile ofrailwav for the previou:- year. Additions and improvements to lin?s, structures, etc.. coding £39.05f1, which might reasonably have been debited to capital, have been made during the year and charged to working expense?. I • . ' Additions to Open Lines. The sum of £372,018 was expended under the head '"Additions to open lines." and charged to capital account. Of this amount £227,302 wo,? expended on rollingstock, tarpaulins, motor-rail car, pneumatic coaling-cranes, workshops' machinery, and tho new steamer for the Lake Wakatipu service. Duplication of Lines. On duplication work the following were charged to capital account under tho provisions of the special relating thereto :— £ Wellington-Hutt duplication works 1,635 Now Htitt Road (including land for same) 6,070 7.70.'. Dunedin-Mosgiel duplication and deviation of line 51,129 | Results of Working. . ! J. The followins is a summary of results

of working, for year ending March 31, 1912, as compared with 1911:— Year ended March 31. . Particulars. 1911. 1912. Total miles open for traffic 2,761 2.80S Average miles open for.year 2,742 2,501 Capital cost of opened and unopened lines £31,509,960 £32,680,179 Capital cost of open lines £29,606,546 £30,506,089 Capital cost per mile of open lines £10,723 £10,804 Gross earnings £3,491,182 £3,676,509 Working expenses ... £2,303,272 £2,165,896 Net profit on working £1,190,910 £1,210,613 Percentage of profit to capital invested 4.06 3.9S Percentage of working expenses to earnings 65.92 67.0< Earnings per averago mile open ... £1,275 £1,314 Working expenses per average mile opeu £840 £SBl Net earnings per averago mile open... £435 £433 d. d. Earnings per train mile 102.75 100.20 Working expenses per _ ___ mi> train mile 67.75 'o.'')Net earnings per train mile 35.000 34.1 3 Passengers, ordinary 11,200,613 11,891,134 Season tickets 222,104 236,957 Goods tonnage ...... 5,555,292 5,599,<56 Live stock ton- „„„„,„ nara 308,382 288,152 Train mileage. 8,141,075 8,371,687 Locomotives i'B *■" Passenger-cars iii™ '•"'- AVagons and ' brakevans 18,036 18,521 Rolling Stock-Building Programme. Messrs. A. and G. Price (Limited) delivered six Class Ad four-cylinder balanced compound tender locomotives, thus completing their contract. In view of the necessity for further increasing the loco-inotive-power, ' a further contract was let to this firm to build another lot of twenty Class Ad engines. In the Railway Workshops there were under construction on March 31 six heavy type goods engines, Class Ba, ten Class X four-cylinder balanced compounds and 28 heavy tank engines, also 53 bogie-cars, 2 bogie brake-vans, 31 bogie, and 1100 four-wheeled wagons. By tho additions that hare been made to rolling stock during the past seventeen years, the tractive power has been. increased by 240 per cent., passenger seating capacity by 194 per cent., and wagon capacity by 192 per cent. The additions actually made to the rolling stock equipment in tho same period comprised 224 locomotives, 714 cars, 177' brake vans, 963 sheep trucks, and. 8913 goods, wagons. The rapidity with which the business continues to increase makes it essential to continue building .rolling stock as quicklv as possible. Special efforts arc therefore being put forth in this- direc tion. The programme for 1912-13 comprises, 10 engines, 67 bogie carriages, ! bogie brake vans, 54 bogie wagons, 83i four-wheelod wagons, so that altogethei thcro are at tho moment 64 locomotives 120 carriages, 10 brako vans, 85 bogi< wagons, and 1937 four-wheeled wagon; actually on order. Increased Revenue Anticipated. The Minister concludes his Stateraen' with tho remark that he confidently an ticipates that the prosperity that has ex isted of late years will continut to mani {est itself during the next financial year ' Ho estimates 'the revenue for tho yeai ending March 31, 1913, at £3,745,000, an( the expenditure at £2,546,600.