D.—2.

These figures show that while a greater quantity of work per engine-hour has been obtained from the engines the cost of working the engines has actually been reduced. Statistics of the consumption and cost of coal are as follow : —

These figures show that both the quantity and the cost of coal consumed has been reduced notwithstanding—as the figures in the previous table show —that more work per engine-hour has been obtained from the engines. Traffic Transportation. Traffic transportation costs totalled £1,424,520, a decrease of £.373,970 (20-79 per cent.) compared with the previous year. The continued decline in traffic during the past year necessitated a careful review of train-mileage, and a number of services were cancelled or curtailed. The total decrease in train-mileage for the year was 1,113,178 miles, and while a proportion of this decrease is due to the curtailment of passenger services the largest decline was in goods-train mileage, where the decline in traffic did not require the same number of goods trains as would have been the case in a normal year. Taking the transportation costs for 1926 and the train-miles and revenue tonnage as the standard and fixing the index figure at 100, the position regarding these three items is as follows : — 1926. 1927. 1928. 1929. 1930. 1931. 1932. Transportation costs . . 100 101 101 105 108 103 82 Train-miles . . .. 100 104 105 108 116 109 99 Revenue tonnage . . 100 101 102 105 107 96 80 These figures show that, notwithstanding the decrease in business—which owing to the high proportion of fixed charges would tend to increase unit cost—-the unit cost has been reduced very substantially as compared with the 1926 standard. General Charges. The expenditure under this heading totalled £246,565, a decrease of £8,927 compared with the previous year, due to salary reductions and general economies. Subsidiary Services. Subsidiary Service Revenue. —The revenue from subsidiary services amounted to £719,983, as compared with £790,149 for the previous year, and an analysis of the figures is as follows :— 1931-32. 1930-31. 1929-30. Lake Wakatipu steamers .. .. 8,013 9,166 11,447 Refreshment service .. .. 89,026 120,563 132,301 Advertising service .. .. .. 39,312 49,94-1 53,532 Departmental dwellings .. .. 138,725 116,256 109,694 Leases of bookstalls, &c. .. 17,822 20,022 21,405 Road-motor services .. .. 72,740 103,348 105,702 Miscellaneous 354,345 370-,853 380,087 £719,983 £790,149 £814,123 Subsidiary Services Expenditure. — The particulars of the expenditure in connection with the subsidiary services are as follow : — 1931-32. 1930-31. 1929-30. Lake Wakatipu steamers .. .. 10,068 14,064 18,374 Refreshment service .. .. 86,335 116,506 125,230 Advertising service .. .. .. 36,414 48,692 53,151 Departmental dwellings .. .. 149,974 178,140 187,816 Leases of bookstalls, &c. .. .. 10,820 9,804 9,144 Road-motor services .. .. 75,691 109,191 117,118 £369,302 £476,667 £510,833 Analyses of the above variations are contained under the appropriate heading for each of these services as set out later in this report.

XI

Consumption. Cost. Coal. 1932. 1931. 1932. ! 1931. lb. lb. d. d. Per engine-mile .. .. .. .. .. 57-52 59-77 9-41 10-60 Per engine-hour . . .. .. . . 591-76 600-31 96-88 106-46 Per thousand gross ton-miles .. .. .. 398-96 410-88 65-29 72-86