D.—2

XIII

Westland Section. Revenue, £162,735; increase, £1,660. Passenger revenue increased £907. The increase of season tickets, chiefly workers' twelve-trip, was 983, but passengers other than season-ticket holders decreased considerably. Live-stock increased 3,400, and green flax 1,242 tons. Coal decreased 21,000 tons, timber 183 tons, grain 985 tons, and merchandise 717 tons. South Island Main Line and Branches. Revenue, £1,618,740; increase, £105,548. The principal items were,— Number. Number. Passengers ... ... ... 4,823,507 ; decrease, 120,859 Season tickets ... ... ... 114,403; increase 13,856 Parcels, &c. ... ... ... 642,942; decrease, 45,971 Live-stock ... ... ... ... 3,601,853; increase, 440,756 Tons. Tons. Goods ... ... ... ... 2,335,625; decrease, 34,368 The annual revenue per mile of railway increased from £1,095 7s. Id. to £1,152 19s. 10d., and per train-mile from 9s. 2|d. to 9s. 9|d. The variations of traffic in the individual districts were approximately as under :-— Christchurch. —Revenue, £708,249; increase, £15,202. Passengers decreased 56,053. Sheep increased 180,776. Chaff, &c, increased 27,192 tons. Wool decreased 6,973 tons, timber 4,796 tons, grain 92,857 tons, merchandise 7,800 tons, and minerals 14,037 tons. The dry season affected the grain traffic. Dunedin. —Revenue, £550,394; increase, £45,958. Passengers decreased 26,484, while season tickets increased 10,848. Parcels decreased 16,446. A. considerable proportion of the decrease was due to the shortage of cream consignments in North Otago in consequence of the dry season. Cattle increased by 14,000, sheep 67,000, and pigs 870. Chaff increased 22,650 tons, timber 1,300 tons, grain 3,554 tons, and merchandise 8,988 lons. There was a large export of chaff to Australia at the beginning of the year. Wool decreased 283 tons, firewood 1,416 tons, and minerals 29,302 tons. Invercargill. —Revenue, £360,097 ; increase, £44,388. Passengers decreased 38,322, while season tickets increased 543. Cattle increased 1,272, and sheep 73,127. Chaff, &c, increased 26,172 tons (shipments to Australia), wool 106 tons, grain 43,556 tons, and merchandise 4,325 tons. Timber decreased 3,983 tons, and minerals, chiefly road-metal, 10,078 tons. Lake Wakatipu Steamers. Revenue, £7,243; increase, £392. Passengers decreased 1,090 in numbers, but increased £171 in revenue. Parcels revenue increased £65. The variations in goods traffic were very small. There was an increase of 263 tons of minerals from operations at, the scheelite-mines. The train services have been maintained with punctuality, as will be seen from the following table:—

Average Late Arrival of Trains, Year ended 31st March, 1916.

V ear ended H gi j I | I CD fN 03 a s *3 s i i Period er — H( rC to ° Period ended inded CO > o S5 03 P I a •2 S .. , 03 >HS h [ a a ' Express and Mail Trains. March 31, 1916 tfaroh 81, 1915 .. j 3-72 | 1-89 I 1-84 I 1-58 j 1-74 I 0-67 I 0-70 I 1-46 1-74 I 3-61 I 2-35 1 3-22 I 3-17 1 2-13 .. I 1-12 I 1-52 j 2-37 I 0-65 I 0-69 | 0-45 I 0-24 I 0-80 I 0-79 | 3-76 | 1-61 I 2-15 I 1-95 I 1-40 torch 81, 1916 .larch 31, 1915 Long-distance Mixed Trains. .. I 4-13 | 2-71 I 2-29 I 2'29 I 1-78- I 1-38 I 1-40 I 1-65 i 2-58 j 3-14 I 3-10 I 4-13 I 5-18 1 2-73 .. I 2-40 I 3-35 I 2-51 | 1-21 | 1-23 | 1-36 | 0-77 | 1-28 I 1'45 | 2-55 | 1-99 | 3-30 I 3-85 | 2-09 Suburban Trams daroh' 31, 1916vlarch 31, .1915 .. I 0-44 0-34 j 0-43 j 0-34 ! 0-22 I 0-28 I 0-33 j0-ol I 0-22 j 0-61 | 0-42■! 0-37 j 0-4*-1 0-38 ..-J 0-52 i 0-63 !,0i84 ! .l 0-27 I 0-13 | 0-15 | 0-16 |0.-38 1.0-21 0-48 10-30 I 0-34 | 0-36 i 0-36