D.—2a.

38

railways, and experience shows that at least, twice as much mileage should be done by the locomotives on the New Zealand railways before they enter the shops. Information has been furnished showing that repairs to engines in New Zealand average a little more than one per engine per annum, while on the North Eastern Eailway of England the engines, including heavy and light repairs, did not average through the shops more than once in two years, and this without taking into consideration the difference in the character of the traffic working required. If this practice had been carried out in New Zealand it would mean that not more than 328 engines should have passed through the shops during the twelve months ended the 31st March, 1924, whereas in actual fact 677 engines were dealt with. Petone and Addington Locomotive Shops sufficient to meet Requirements of both Islands. Carrying this still further, it would appear that the shops at Petone and Addington could deal with the whole of the necessary repairs in the two Islands, and, assuming this to be so, it would be possible to dispense with the services of some 900 men, representing a saving of about £200,000 per annum. This is borne out also by comparing the repair staff employed per 100,000 engine-miles in New Zealand with one of the large railway groups of Great Britain, as it will be observed from the following table that if the Great Britain basis applied in the Dominion the staff could be reduced by 899 men : —

Further Savings in Staff Costs. This clearly indicates that a great saving is possible in the locomotive workshops in New Zealand, even without expenditure on new machinery and reorganization of the existing shops, but if such were carried out a further saving should be effected. It is obvious that the arrangement outlined would have to take place by degrees to avoid hardship to those displaced. In our opinion, reorganization of the existing methods should be put in force at an early date, and modern machinery procured. Machinery in Workshops. It is generally held that machinery in locomotive workshops possesses a utility life of twenty years. On this basis £162,607 should have been expended on renewals during the period 1915 to 1924, but, as will be seen from the following table, only £1,106 was so spent, leaving a balance of £161,501 which should have been set aside in a renewals fund and be available for use.

, T -i x Number of Number 01 . q+ fp Locomotive a , , - Number Staff rp , , „ . erag ® , t. x» • btock of f -ci • ™ i a JLotal Jbjngme-miles employed Railway. Repair E of Engines employed E ine . mileg . pe 8 r Engine per 100,000 Staft re P aired - P. er^g» ie repaired. Enginem &tock - miles. New Zealand .. 1,921 655 677 2-93 12,450,796 18,391 15-43 A Great Britain 18,628 10,292 5,165 1-90 226,868,021 43,924 8-21 railway group

I I I • tt . p -nr , • Amount which should i i • i , , i Twelve Months ended r , , v , Value of Machinery haT6 been renewed Balance which should 31st March. Capital Value. | renewed during on Life Basis during have been set aside Year. Year m a Fund. I I £ £ £ £ 1915 .. .. 301,539 .. 14,522 14,522 1916 .. .. 309,366 .. 15,077 15,077 1917 .. .. 318,049 .. 15,468 15,468 1918 .. .. 324,178 .. 15,902 15,902 1919 .. .. 330,823 j .. 16,209 16,209 1920 .. .. 336,380 ! 570 16,541 15,971 1921 .. .. 340,520 .. 16,819 16,819 1922 .. .. 348,676 50 17,026 16,976 1923 .. .. 352,183 .. 17,434 17,434 1924 .. .. 357,140 486 17,609 17,123 Totals .. .. 1,106 162,607 161,501