D.—2

XII

TRAFFIC. Mr. U. Buxton, Chief Traffic Manager, reports that the following are the leading features of the traffic in the various districts as compared with the previous year : — Whangarei Section. Revenue, £69,252 ; increase, £8,394. Passengers increased 9,133, and season tickets 327. Livestock decreased 2,342. Goods tonnage, increased 9,702 tons (timber 2,800 tons and general goods 7,082 tons ; minerals decreased 180 tons). Kaihu Section. Revenue, £9,133; increase, £2,645. Passengers increased 4,043. Timber increased 412 tons, minerals 438 tons, and general goods 173 tons. Gisborne Section. Revenue, £47,305 ; increase, £8,068. Passengers decreased 789 and season tickets 97. Livestock decreased 31,335. Goods tonnage increased 8,121 tons (timber increased 4,280 tons and general goods 5,389 tons, but minerals decreased 1,548 tons). North Island Main Line and Branches. Revenue, £4,009,296 ; increase, £749,549. The principal items of traffic were : Passengers, 8,824,932 ; increase, 1,706,602. Season tickets, 305,872 ; increase, 50,024. Parcels, &c, revenue, £194,502 ; increase, £27,604. Live-stock, 3,598,052 ; decrease, 203,486. Goods, 2,361,978 tons ; increase, 287,395 tons. The revenue per mile of railway opened increased from £2,894 19s. 7d. to £3,538 13s. Id., but decreased per train-mile from 15s. 3|d. to 15s. The variations of traffic in the individual districts were approximately as follows : — Auckland. —Revenue, £1,530,362; increase, £318,965. Passengers increased 784,714 and season tickets 33,496. Parcels, luggage, and mails increased £9,979. Cattle and calves increased 5,415, sheep 28,854, and pigs 6,501. Timber increased 26,933 tons, minerals 53,306 tons, and general goods 61,114 tons. Ohakune. —Revenue, £4:90,707 ; increase, £77,509. Passengers increased 80,814 and season tickets 27. Parcels, luggage, and mails increased £3,157. Cattle, and calves increased 7,573 and pigs 1,839 ; but sheep decreased 20,309. Timber increased 29,508 tons, minerals 19,198 tons, and general goods 2,397 tons. Wanganui. —Revenue, £718,433 ; increase, £127,253. Passengers increased 199,043 and season tickets 245. Parcels, luggage, and mails increased £7,018. Cattle and calves increased 8,139, sheep 19,961, and pigs 4,695. Timber increased 1,485 tons, minerals 11,100 tons, and general goods 11,620 tons. Wellington. —Revenue, £1,269,794 ; increase, £225,822. Passengers increased 642,031 and season tickets 16,256. Parcels, luggage, and mails increased £7,450. Cattle and calves decreased 18,599 and sheep 249,115. Pigs increased 1,560. Timber increased 5,144 tons, minerals 31,738 tons, and general goods 33,852 tons. Picton Section. Revenue, £42,397 ; increase, £4,517. Passengers increased 195. Live-stock increased 30,434. Goods decreased 265 tons. Nelson Section. Revenue, £40,928 ; increase, £4,194. Passengers increased 5,859. Live-stock increased 2,579. Goods increased 886 tons. Westport Section. Revenue, £101,508 ; increase, £11,369. Passengers increased 2,627. Goods increased 1,408 tons (the mineral traffic shows a slight increase of 2,360 tons, but timber declined). Westland Section. Revenue, £196,500; increase, £37,177. Passengers increased 4,965 and season tickets 2,448. Parcels revenue increased £868. Live-stock decreased 344. Goods increased 33,751 tons (minerals 29,000 tons and timber 3,000 tons). South Island Main Lines and Branches. Revenue, £2,383,223 ; increase, £329,019. The principal items of traffic were : Passengers, 5,372,359 ; increase, 819,983. Season tickets, 139,785 ; increase, 11,008. Parcels, &c, revenue £122,427 ; increase, £15,473. Live-stock, 3,543,970 ; increase, 37,169. Goods, 2,426,925 tons ; increase, 146,221.