D.—2

XIV

Nelson Section. Revenue, £33,068 ; decrease, £951. Passengers decreased 10,664. Live-stock decreased 4,471, timber 602 tons, minerals 1,290 tons, and general goods 3,498 tons. The goods traffic:, which is mainly in connection with the port, was affected by adverse shipping conditions and by a flood which caused an interruption during the last weeks of the year. Wcslport Section. Revenue, £107,811 ; decrease, £5,290. Passengers decreased 5,170. Timber increased 2,772 tons, minerals decreased 58,004 tons, and general goods 151 tons. The output of coal was decreased by labour difficulties at the mines. Westland Section. Revenue, £154,015 ; decrease, £8,514. Passengers decreased 29,204. General goods increased 225 tons. Timber decreased 6,081 terns, and. minerals 71,839 tons. The decrease in minerals was caused by labour disputes and a shortage of miners. South Island Main Line and Branches. Revenue, £1,597,130; decrease, £85,508. The principal items of traffic were : Passengers (number) .. .. .. .. 3,863.281 ; decrease, 864,627 Season tickets (number) .. .. .. 107.048; ~ 13.091 Parcels (revenue) .. .. .. .. £93,321; increase, £4.297 Live-stock (number) .. .. .. .. 2,916,618; decrease, 898,179 Goods (tons) .. .. .. .. .. 1,938,349; „ 253,840 The revenue [i<:r mile of railway decreased from £1,198 9s. 2d. to £1,137 lis. Id., but per train mile it increased from 10s. 4|d. to 12s. 5-|d. The variations of traffic in the individual districts were approximately as follows : — Christchureh. Revenue, £682,326 : decrease, £38,033. Passengers decreased 369,328, and season tickets 6,156. Parcels and luggage revenue increased £2,371. Cattle and calves decreased 6,443, sheep 465,065, anel pigs 3,475. Timber decreased 23,799 tons, general goods 73,280 tons, and minerals 41,028 tons. The dee-line is due to a bad season and shipping difficulties. Dunedin.- —Revenue, £565,827 ; decrease, £5,410. Passengers decreased 321,577, and season tickets 7,245. Parcels and luggage revenue increased £811. Cattle anel calves decreased 2,789, and sheep 206,396. Timber increased 2,272 tons. This was for fitting out transports and building storage. General goods decreased 26,144 terns and minerals 10,345 tons. Invercargill. —Revenue-, £348,977 : decrease, £42,065. Passengers decreased 173,722. There was a slight increase in season tickets. Parcels and luggage re-venue increased £1,115. Cattle, and calves increased 3,680 ; sheep decreased 218,580. Timber decreased 4,362 tons. General goods decreased 64,581 tons, and minerals 12,404 tons. Scarcity of labour affected the output of timber, and the shortage of shipping the export of grain and other produce. The decrease: in minerals was caused by a lessened demand for road-metal. Lake Wakatipu Steamers. Revenue, £6,810 ; decrease, £371. Passengers decreased 6,071. Live-stock increased 1,345. Goods tonnage decreased 795 tons. The business elcpenels largely upon excursion traffic, and has been adversely affected by the withdrawal of cheap excursion fares. The train services has been maintained with punctuality, as will be seen from the following table :—

Average Late Arrival of Trains, Year ended 31st March, 1918.

Year ended 1 Period ended * oi ? M I ■ i a s 2 | 3 a I «) j «i .1 oi - a 111 •g 5? a & i m £ -si i» e a * b ■ a £ - < i a ° | \_A_ ,g I o a | p £ : £ a s ■* - March 31, 1918 March 31, 1917 Express and Mail Trains. .. i 5-92 | 8-66 i 3-72 | 1-60 | 1-27 j 1*82 I 1-43 I 2-13 I 1-88 I 3-16 2-19 I 2-1 | 1-18 ,'VH .. I 3-16 i 2-60 3-15 | 1-31 1-54 | 1-77 ! 1-64 • 1-36 | 1-34 | 4-15 ! 3-05 | 3-35 | 2-62 2-38 March 31, 1918 March 31, 1917 Long-distance Mixed Trains. .. ! 7-45 110-57 3-88 | 2-20 I 1-80 I 2-01 j 1-86 I 2-67 I 2-82 I 3-51 I 3-53 i 6-05 I 8-08 4-34 .. | 4-45 | 4-03 ! 3-94 | 2-16 | 1-71 | 1-82 | 1-77 2-24 j 2-90 j 3-63 | 3-84 | 3-83 | 4-04 3-10 Suburban Trains. March 31, 1918 March 31, 1917 .. I 1-23 I 1-139 I 0-98 I 0-59 I 0-30 I 0'34 0-25 0-33 j 0-28 I 0-58 j 0-42 ! 0-15 ! 0-69 I 0-62 .. I 0-67 I 0-44 | 0-65 | 0-50 | 0-36 [ 0-32 | 0-23 i 0-27 I 0-20 I 0-76 | 0-35 I 0-40-1 0-53 | 0-36