NEW ZEALAND RAILWAYS.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume XXXXV, Issue 174, 25 July 1903, Page 2

NEW ZEALAND RAILWAYS.

ANNUAL STATEMENT,

Sir Joseph Ward bas presented to Parliament bis annual statemeat on the working of the railways. The total earnings for the year amounted to £1,974,038, and the expenditure to £1,343,415, the net profit on the year's working beitig £630,623, which is a net increase of £8274 uuthe result of th;i previous year. At the end of the year there were 2291 miles opsn for traffic, as og iinst 2235 miles open on the 31s'o March, 1902.

The capital cost of lints open for traffic ba& increased from £18,180,722 lasr, year to £19,081,735 for the yeir uoder review.

The n*t revenue is stated to bs equal to a return of 3 - 3 per cent, on the capital invested in the "pen lines.

The Kawiik iwa at d Nelson sections; failed to pay working cxpen'oa, showing a deficit of £834 and £533 respectively. The permanent additions made to limetablf'S represent 246,597 miles and a cost tf £60,622,

The number of passengers carried last year exceeded the figure for 1902 by 219,254, acd gave an increased revenue of £832.

The coaching and goods traffic also i show large increases under the various headings, except in grain, which shows i a decrease of 94,969 tons. The increased ievdiiue derived from coaching traffic amounted to £7712, and from goods traffic to £87,061. j A notioeable feature of the year's business Ins btea the increase in live stock and mineral traffic, the increase in cattle being 19,003 hnad, pigs 6685 head, sheep 1,096,473 head, and minerals 160,633 tons. The increase in sheep is unprecedented. The tolling stock has been increased by 10 locomotives, 45 bogie cars, 13 bogie brake vans, two Feil incline bivke vans, 537 waggons, and 391 tarpaulins, all of which have been turned out of the railway workshops. 221 locomotives, 437 carriages, 137 braka vans, 3804 waggons, and five travelling cranes have now been supplied with the Westinghouse brat '; 636 vehicles with Pintsch gas; 373 second class cars with cushions; and 232 cars with lavatories. Further cars are being fitted. The averaPfl of men employed was 8875, as against 8313 for the previous yaar. During the year 164 mem'orr* of th* permanent staff resigned, 35 died, 66 were retired, 32 were dismissed, and 509 engaged. The gross revenue. £1,974,038, exceeded the estimate by £99,038, and the revenue of the previous year by £99,452. The net revenue, £630,623 was £8274 in excess of that of the previous year.

Tha total expenditure was £1,343,415, an increase of £91,178. Toe expenditure for working absorbed 68.05 per cent, of the rev;nua, an increase of 1.25 per cent, over the rate for the previous year. The amounts chargeable to working expenses are shown by the following figures : 1902-3 £360,061; 'occmotive £450,694 and £484,551 ; rmintenanee, £436,847 and £460,398 ; management, £56,756 and £62,997 ; totals, £1,277,508 and £1,368,007; less credit recoveries, £25,271 afd £24,592; totals, £1,252,237 and £1,343,415. The expenditure for the miir.torance of the linen, buildings, bridges, and other structures hus increased frcm £436,847 lass year to £460,398 for the year under review, and represents an average expenditure for maintenance of £204 pur mile of railway open. The sum of £15,057 has been ex pended on additions and improvements to lines and structures which might, fairly hive been debited to capital. The 6um of £63,728 was spent on bridge repairs and renewals, of which the sum if £10,320 was d«bited to capital, and the balance, £53,408, to working expenses. The increased expenditure in the traffic and locomotive branches is due principally to the additional train mileage and iocreiscd staff to meat requirements of the business, and also to improvement of tbe wages and salaries undi r the Classifioa'ion Act.

The capital cost do~s not include the line known as the Midlaud Riilway, (he capital coat to the colony of which was £576,413.

The net earnings for the year give a return of 3 21 per cent, on the capital Coß**i

In November last the Government acquired ihe steamers and plant of thn Lake Wakatipu Steamship Company, in crdti- tfcat the business might ba satisfactorily catered for. It will be necessary t) procure n new steamer captble of carrying 1000 passengers atd of steaming up to 18 knots an hour. The Minister states that if our railways are to keep paon with the rapidlyincreasing d< mands for quick, safe, and cheap transport of both the people and the commerca of the country, Ptnple provision must continue to be made to enable the relaying of the track and the strengthening of bridges being pushed on at a greatly increased ratp, loonier that tha heavier e- gines and trains miy run on the principal lines. loereas'ng the loads of trail s meaus economy and efficiency. These desidmeta cannot, however, be s'.cur<-d uuiil the heaviest typa of engines can be us d on any portion of the main trunk and piincipal branch lines ; and until this cm be dona the ratio of working expenses to earnings must nocessarily he high.

" I anticipate," the Min's'er says, in conclusion, " that the existing eatisfsctory commercial conditiots of the colony wiil bo maintained throughout the ficancil yeir, and therefore estimate the revenue for the year ending 31st March, 1904, at £2,000,000, and the expenditure at £1,360,000.