RAILWAYS FINANCE

Wairarapa Times-Age, 21 February 1939, Page 5

RAILWAYS FINANCE

SOME IMPROVEMENT SHOWN. SATISFACTION EXPRESSED ' BY MINISTER. (By Telegraph—Press Association.) AUCKLAND, February 20. In a statement the Minister of Railways, Mr Sullivan, expressed satisfaction with the improvement in the financial returns from the railways after scanning preliminary revenue figures for the four weeks to February 4, 1939. “As I have already said,” commented Mr Sullivan, “we are estimating that the net revenue for the current financial year, which will end on March 31, 1939. will be somewhat above £700,000. The latest figures available strengthen this impression. For the four weeks ended February 4 preliminary revenue figures indicate that gross revenue will be about £830,000, the highest revenue total ever to be recorded in the history of our railways for a four-weekly period. Net earnings for this fourweekly period should approximate £150,000 or £42,000 more than the net revenue for the corresponding period last year. “Having in mind the adverse effect on railway traffic of the bad weather experienced by the Dominion generally during the recent holiday period, the decrease of 1,000,000 in sheep traffic following the facial eczema outbreak, and the decreased grain production in the South Island, the financial recovery recorded by the department is very satisfactory indeed.” said the Minister.