RAILWAY REVENUE.

Manawatu Standard, Volume LVII, Issue 220, 17 August 1937, Page 6

RAILWAY REVENUE.

With the completion of the railway accounts for the past financial year the Minister is able to announce an increase in the gross revenue of nearly ,£BOO,OOO, compared with the previous year’s returns. The figures respectively are £7,790,651 and £7,004,316, and the actual increase £786,335. The statement of the Minister does not differ from an earlier one when the net revenue was shown to be £903,858 against a Budget estimate of £900,000, and a net return of £1,051,477 in the previous year, the decrease being £147,619. With the advent of better times the railway revenue shows a steady buoyancy. It is higher now than at any time since 1930, and the current year’s return, Mr Sullivan expects, will exceed that of 1936-37. Again, had it not been for the infantile paralysis epidemic, which placed considerable restraint upon travelling, the gross revenue last financial year Avould have been much larger, and consequently the Budget estimate would have been still further exceeded. The effect of rising costs Avas felt in the past financial year for the increase in the gross revenue avus more than sAvallowed up in this way. Expenditure Avas £933,954 higher, compared with 1935-36, £1,346,356 more than in 1934-35 and £1,639,640 above the level in 1933-34. The net return of £1,051,477 made in 1935-36 meant a contribution of 1.94 per cent, on the capital liability of £54,230,000, and it fell short by nearly a million and a quarter pounds of the sum officially stated to be the full amount of interest to be paid on the capital. The past year’s figures are not yet available. The Minister’s anticipation that the gross reA'enue set for the current year (£8,253,000) will be-exceeded is based on the 16 weeks’ working, wdiick shows an increase in the. comparable period. Such an increase will be most A'aluable for the net return must feel the effect of rising costs very sharply this year. In the twelve rveeks period the balance of revenue over expenses amounted to £194,396, or £115,672 less than for the corresponding 12 Aveeks of 1936-37. The gross revenue is greater by £2BO 510, but the expenditure is higher by £396,182. This year also there must be a considerable addition to the capital invested in railways, so that the interest bill Avill be much more, and also the deficit the taxpayer must meet. An increased railway programme means higher costs and this position must be largely reflected m this year’s returns.