RAILWAY REVENUE

Hawke's Bay Herald-Tribune, Issue 179, 16 August 1937, Page 10

RAILWAY REVENUE

-Press Association.)

Highest Return Since 1930

(Br Telesraph-

OHRISTOHURCH, Last Nighfc. ! 4 4 The railway accounts for the finan* jcial year ended March 31 have bees ;completed and show an increase in the jgross revenue of nearly £SOO,000 on the 'figure for fhe previous year. , The 'fevenue is hxgher than for any year |since 1930. It is expected also that the figures foiythe eurrent year will exceed the 1936-37 total." The Minister of B-ailways (Hon. D. G. •Sullivan), in issuing the above statei , jment, emphasised the buoyancy of the ! railway finances. The final Tesults of jthe year's working, he said, could be jtaken as a reliable indication and true ireflection of the improved economic i conditions in New Zealand. The grosa j railway revenue for the year ended f March 31 was £7,790,651, an increase jover the year 1935-36 of £786,335 oi 1 11.23 per eent. The -revenue for the iyear was the highest since 1930, a^nd jexceeded 1933 (when the lowest revenue jduring the slump period was earned) by {£1,756,248. The figures for the last; {eight years were: ' 1930 ..... ;.. ... .... ... £8,279,914: 1931 .. ... >. .... .. .. £7,571,537 1932 .. ... ... .. «. .. £6,508,948 1933 £6,034,403 1934 ... ... .. £6,332,711 1935 .. .. £6,627,928 1936 .. £7,004,316 1937 .. .. .. ..... .. £7,790,651 But for the infantile paralysis epi--tlcmic the re^'enuc for 1937 would havc i'cen at least £3 00,000 greator, Mr. Sullivan claimed. The ostimated groso rcvcuue for the curreut year is £8,253,000, an increase of £463,000 over 1937. ;The latost returns indicate that this !estimate will bo attained and possbsiy jexceeded. The increaso in the first four {four-weekly .totals was £200,000.