RAILWAY RETURNS

Hokitika Guardian, 23 October 1931, Page 6

RAILWAY RETURNS

Tlie latest railway returns cover the greater part of the first six months of the financial year, and they do not make pleasant reading. The Board has met a reduction of £549,398 in operating revenue by cutting down expenditure by £564,0i1, as compared with last year, but the net revenue has fallen from £50.573 to £20,686. Th e decline in North Island revenue was £323,858 and in expenditure £289,349, resulting in the net revenue being £19,348 against £53,857 a year earlier.

In the South Island the declines were ; £270,510 and £275,162 respectively so that a deficit of £3281 has been turned in a favourable balance of £1338.

The causes of the general adverse movement are plain. Th e passenger traffic has dwindled rapidly, the railways carrying 2,339,103 fewer passengers in the period under review than they did in 1930. This has entailed a loss due to limited freight traffic added a .further £327,304 to the downward trend. The depressed state of the timber industry alone imposed a loss of 107,732 tens' of freight .and “other goods” were nearly six thousand tons beinw the lefkl the previous year. These are unfortunate developments with which the Railway Board has «o deal. ■. \ Naturally it will hope to benefit by the recovery of trade and any increase of production, but the process of reducing services and of effecting other, economies cannot go on indefinitely, for the outcome would be merelv a skeleton service run on a basis that could not possibly earn the interest due on the capital invested