D.— 2.

Workshop Electrification. — Gas-engine drives at Adciington Workshops have been entirely eliminated and electric power substituted. At Petone approximately 50 per cent, of the gas-engines have been superseded by electric drives, and this work is progressing satisfactorily towards completion. Electrification of Hillside has been completely planned, and tenders have been called for all motors required. It is expected to complete this by the end of the year. Invercargill and East Town Workshops have also been arranged for motor drives to supersede steam-engines. Electric lighting of workshops is undergoing revision, and modern lighting is gradually being installed. Workshop Organization and Methods have been considerably improved during the past year. Detail costing systems have been installed in workshops. Time-clocks have been established to replace book system in main workshops. Shop schedules and material-tracing has been improved. Stores reorganization has also been started. PROPOSED TRAIN-FERRY BETWEEN PICTON AND WELLINGTON. The Royal Commission which recently inquired into the Department's services suggested that the possibilities of providing through transit between the two Islands by means of a train-ferry should be investigated. The question was referred to a committee (Messrs. S. E. Fay, Operation Assistant, and E. Casey, Inspecting Engineer), whose inquiries dealt with the economies of linking up Wellington and Christchurch by means of a train-ferry to Picton and the completion of the line between Wharanui and Parnassus. As a result of the investigations made by the committee it was found that the project could not be established at the present time except at a heavy loss to the State. The report of the committee is published as an appendix to this statement. (Appendix D.) TRAIN SERVICES. The reorganization of the time-table was continued during the past year, and extensive alterations and improvements were made to the train services. The express trains have been accelerated, and, where circumstances permitted, mixed trains have been relieved of a portion of the wayside-goods work, and the time-table adjusted to allow of later start in the case of early-morning trains and earlier arrival in the case of evening trains. " Daylight Limited " express trains between Auckland and Wellington were run on trial during the summer months. The traffic on these trains was not heavy except during the Christmas, New Year, and Easter holidays. With the close of the Dunedin Exhibition and approach of the winter season the traffic showed a decline, and a reversion to the two regular express trains each way became a necessity. The night " Limited " express between Auckland and Wellington is now well established, and has proved a very popular train for the business community desiring to make the journey with a minimum loss of time. The ordinary expresses between Auckland and Wellington have been accelerated to the extent of an hour and a quarter each, and the arrival and departure times at Wellington have been fixed to fit more suitably with the recognized time for the midday meal. The Huarau-Portland Section of line was taken over from the Public Works Department during the year, and a through train service to meet the requirements of passenger and goods traffic was inaugurated between Auckland and Whangarei. The completion of this* section of the line formed a continuous railway from Opua to Wellington, and provided the necessary outlet for produce from the Whangarei-Opua district to markets at the main centres. The time-table, after being in operation for some months, was improved by the acceleration of the mixed trains between Maungaturoto and Whangarei. The opening of the line through to Whangarei also enabled a further improvement to be made in the schedules of the Auckland-Opua expresses. These trains have been further accelerated to the extent of twenty-five minutes. This allows an earlier start to be made from Opua in the morning and ensures an earlier arrival there in the evening. The earlier arrival is of much consequence to the district on account of the long road journey to the outlying settlements after the arrival of the train. The Opua-Whangarei local service has also been adjusted in the direction of providing a daily train between Opua and Auckland. The express trains run through on alternate days, and on the off days the morning train from Opua is scheduled to arrive at Whangarei in time to connect with the express for Auckland, and, similarly, the afternoon train from Whangarei for Opua has been delayed to leave Whangarei after arrival of the express from Auckland. This arrangements ensures a daily service between Opua and Auckland, and incidentally a continuous through service between Opua and Wellington. A further feature is that it affords business people in the far North an opportunity of travelling to Whangarei and back on the same day, with a few hours for the transaction of business in Whangarei. The Auckland-Rotorua expresses have been accelerated to the extent of forty minutes each way, and the Auckland-Thames expresses have been similarly improved by a curtailment of threequarters of an hour in the running-time. In each case the trains are starting later and arriving earlier than under the old schedules. As a measure of economy in the slack season it has been usual in the past to amalgamate the Rotorua and Thames expresses between Auckland and Morrinsville during the winter, and while this

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