D.—2

Examination, Lubrication, and Lighting of Rolling-stock. The expenditure on examination and lubrication of rolling-stock was £26,928, an increase of £1,144 compared with the previous year. The increase was due to the 5-per-cent. increase in wages and additional train services. The expenditure on the lighting of coaching vehicles was £27,170, an increase of £578 (2-17 per cent.), the main causes being the fitting of electric-lighting systems to a greater number of cars and to the running of additional train services. Locomotive Transportation. The expenditure under this head was £1,073,062, an increase of £60,611 (5-99 per cent.) over the previous year. The increase was due to the 5-per-cent. increase in wages (£2/,083) and to the running of additional train services. The quantity of coal used was 397,310 tons, an increase of 36,071 tons. This was due to an increase of 686,320 engine-miles (5-05 per cent.) and to the increased use of soft coal. The ratio of hard to soft coal used during the year was 42 to 58, compared with 49 to 51 in the previous year, and 69 to 31 in the year 1932-33.

The average consumption of coal and cost of same per engine-mile, per engine-hour, and per 1,000 gross ton-miles is shown in the next table : —

Although the pounds of coal consumed per engine-mile increased by 2-76, or 4-6 per cent., this is due to the lower calorific value of soft coal, of which a greater proportion was used this year. The cost of coal per engine-mile, however, fell by 0-15 d., or 1-9 per cent. The following table furnishes statistics of locomotive operation tor the last five years : — 1935. 1934. 1933. 1932. 1931. d. d. d. d. d. Cost per engine-mile .. •• •• 18-04 17-88 19-25 20-73 23-31 Cost per train-mile .. .. ■ ■ 23-91 23-68 25-66 27-92 31-72 Cost per engine-hour 190-78 189'87 201-61 213-29 233-98 Cost per 1,000 gross ton-miles .. •• 116-59 118-66 133-81 144-16 160-71 Engine-miles per engine-hour .. .. 10-58 10-62 10-49 10-29 10-04 Gross ton-miles per engine-hour .. .. 1,636 1,600 1,507 1,480 1,456 The cost per engine-mile increased over the previous year by 0-16 d. (0-9 per cent.), due to the 5-per-cent. increase in wages. An improvement is again shown in the quantity of work performed per engine-hour, the increase compared with the previous year being 2-25 per cent., while compared with 1931 it is 12-36 per cent. Traffic Transportation. The expenditure under this head was £1,360,928, an increase of £107,095 (8-54 per cent.). Compared with the average annual expenditure for the five years ended 31st March, 1930 (£1,793,396), there is a decrease this year of 24-11 per cent. The 5-per-cent. increase in salaries and wages amounted to £56,982, and the remainder of the increase was the result of additional train operation, the total train-miles showing an increase of 508,686 (4-9 per cent.). General Charges. The expenditure under this head totalled £228,874, as compared with £234,879, a decrease of £6,005 (2-56 per cent.). SUBSIDIARY SERVICES. Subsidiary Service Revenue. —The revenue from subsidiary services amounted to £719,864, as compared with £703,876 for the previous year, and an analysis of the figures is as follows 1934-35. 1933-34. 1932-33. £ £ £ Lake Wakatipu steamers.. .. ■■ 10,647 9,617 7,864 Refreshment service .. •• 79,817 73,657 69,505 Bookstall service .. .. -• 36,846 20,786 12,385 Advertising service .. ■■ 30,030 32,707 33,614 Departmental dwellings .. .. •• 105,338 137,238 137,575 Leases of bookstalls, &c. .. •• 17,346 15,749 16,224 Road motor services .. .. •• 90,278 79,184 78,644 Miscellaneous .. .. •• •• 349,562 334,938 039,517 £719,864 £703,876 £695,328

VI

Consumption. Cost. 1935. 1934. 1935. 1934. lb. lb. d. d. Per engine-mile .. .. •• 63-31 60-55 7-77 7-92 Per engine-hour .. •• •• •• 669-76 643-08 82-16 84-14 Per thousand, gross ton-miles .. • • • ■ 407 • 58 399 -97 50 • 00 52 ■ 33