D.—2.

The variations in the individual districts were approximately as follows Northern District (Auckland). —Revenue, £2,048,431; increase, £257,958. Passengers decreased 246,558. Season tickets increased 5,821. Parcels, luggage, &c., increased £12,888. Cattle increased 3,748, and sheep 153,672. Timber increased 55,870 tons, and all other goods 190,423 tons. Middle District (Ohakune). —-Revenue, £565,145; increase, £45,210. Passengers increased 11,445, and season tickets 906. Parcels, luggage, &c., decreased £3,106. Cattle increased 587. Sheep decreased 73,526. Timber increased 14,317 tons, and all other goods 10,458 tons. Western District (Wanganui). —-Revenue, £499,681; decrease, £133,834. Passengers decreased 253,435, and season tickets 500. Parcels and luggage decreased £14,829. Cattle decreased 15,660, and sheep 177,468. Timber decreased 931 tons, and all other goods 2,438 tons. Southern District (Wellington).—-Revenue, £1,421,689 ; increase, £208,101. Passengers decreased 163,018. Season tickets increased 31,014. Parcels, luggage, &c., increased £10,782. Cattle increased 41,166, and sheep 285,410. Timber decreased 452 tons. All other goods increased 37,368 tons. Picton Section.—Revenue, £42,352 ; increase, £8,229. Passengers increased 14,151, and season tickets 246. Cattle increased 344, and sheep 1,232. Timber increased by 557 tons, and all other goods 13,320 tons. Nelson Section.—-Revenue, £28,282 ; increase, £3,545. Passengers increased 21,989, and season tickets 212. Timber decreased 1,292 tons, and all other goods 2,884 tons. Westport Section. —Revenue, £127,268; decrease, £3,098. Passengers decreased 13,697, and season tickets 369. Parcels, luggage, and mails decreased £214. All other goods decreased 3,150 tons South Island Main Line and Branches Section. —Revenue, £2,808,451 ; increase, £510,701. The principal items of traffic were : Passengers, 4,713,881 ; increase, 549,687. Season tickets, 164,169 ; increase, 41,251. Parcels, luggage, &c., revenue, £149,256 ; increase, £3,309. Live-stock, 3,913,245 ; increase, 38,530. Timber, 305,853 tons ; increase, 161,039 tons. All other goods, 2,645,621 tons ; increase, 484,814 tons. The revenue per mile of railway increased from £1,636 16s. 7d. to £1,752 2s. 6d., but decreased from 15s. 2d. per train-mile to 14s. 7d. The variations of traffic in the individual districts were approximately as follows : — Northern District (Ghristchurch). —Revenue, £1,224,800; increase, £259,744. Passengers increased 227,465, and season tickets 22,269. Parcels, luggage, &c., decreased £3,549. Cattle increased 5,823. Sheep decreased 297,975. Timber increased 175,680 tons, and all other goods 216,814 tons. Middle District (Dunedin). —Revenue, £879,341 ; increase £98,485. Passengers increased 189,148, and season tickets 15,737. Parcels, luggage, &c., increased £5,248. Cattle increased 5,813, and sheep 365,637. Timber decreased 21,914 tons. All other goods increased 89,548 tons. Southern District (Invercargill).—Revenue, £704,310; increase, £152,472. Passengers increased 133,074, and season tickets 3,245. Parcels, luggage, &c., increased £1,610. Cattle increased 5,924. Sheep decreased 46,692. Timber increased 7,273 tons, and all other goods 178,452 tons. Lake Wakatipu Steamers. —Revenue, £10,625; increase, £529. Passengers decreased 1,176. Parcels, &c., decreased £261. Timber increased 259 tons, and all other goods 1,057 tons. Train-services. —The following table shows the average late arrivals of the suburban, mixed, and express trains for the year : —

Average late Arrival of Trains, Year ended 31st March, 1926.

XXXV

Period ended o $ ; j ' ' — - - — ® U 3 Year ended . ! -h ca <p-~ a 6 . • .» . . . . **. • .• a >> tiD q. +;> > o a ri rO j>ri £ 1 a I i j ; | a s s 4 I & % * s Express and Mail Trains. March 31 1926 .. I 5-22 | 3-98 | 7-10 I 3-11 I 3-82 [ 5-26 I 3-57 I 1-92 I 3-84 111-27 i 9-39 I 7-39 i 6-43 I 5-54 March 31, 1925 ■ • I 7-95 ! 4-95 ) 4-67 \ 2-75 \ 3-72 I 1-76 \ 1-28 I 2-30 I 1-47 \ 9-71 \ 2-91 \ 1-53 \ 2-41 \ 3-64 Long Distance Mixed Trains. March 31 1926 •• I 8-08 I 6-27 I 4-86 ! 3-82 I 3-83 ! 3-98 ; 2-63 I 3-50 I 4-77 I 9-24 I 8-84 [11-19 110-69 j 6-27 'March 31, 1925 ■ ■ i 7-81 | 6-36 \ 4-38 \ 2-80 \ 2-i9 \ 1-93 \ 1-80 \ 3-09 \ 3-79 \ 7-22 \ 4-88 ! 6-49 ) 7-20 \. 4-63 Suburban Trains. March 31 1926 . - 0-77 1-16 0-88 0-68 0-72 0-57 0-27 0-41 0-26 0-72 0-73 0-95 0-76 0-68 March 31, 1925 • ■ 2-90 1-25 0-74 0 42 0-34 0-23 0-24 0-33 0-23 0-64 0-41 0-38 \ 0-45 0-65