D.—2

Examination, Lubrication, and Lighting of Rolling-stock. The expenditure on examination and lubrication of rolling-stock was £29,160, an increase of £2,232 (8-29 per cent.) compared with the previous year. The increase was due to the 7§-per-cent. increase in wages and additional train services. The expenditure on the lighting of coaching vehicles was £28,439, an increase of £1,269 (4-67 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 £1,144,037, an increase of £70,975 (6-61 per cent.) over the previous year. The increase was due to* the 7|-per-cent. increase in wages (£27,746) and to the running of additional train services. The quantity of coal used was 420,251 tons, an increase of 22,941 tons. This was due to an increase of 645,465 engine-miles (4-51 per cent.) and to the increased use of soft coal. The ratio of hard to soft coal used during the year was 41 to 59, compared with 42 to 58 in the previous vear and 49 to 51 in the year 1933-34. 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 following table :—

The following table furnishes statistics of locomotive operation for the last five years 1936. 1935. 1934. 1933. 1932. n , . d. d. d. d. d. Cost per engine-mile .. .. .. 18-40 18-04 17-88 19-25 20-73 Cost per train-mile .. .. .. 24-51 23-91 23-68 25-66 27-92 Cost per engine-hour .. .. .. 193-42 190-78 189-87 201-61 213-29 Cost per 1,000 gross ton-miles .. .. 117-09 116-59 118-66 133-81 144-16 Engine-miles per engine-hour .. .. 10-51 10-58 10-62 10-4-9 10-29 Gross ton-miles per engine-hour .. .. 1,652 1,636 1,600 1,507 1,480 The cost per engine-mile increased over the previous year by 0-36 d. (2 per cent.), due to the 7|-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 0-97 per cent., while compared with 1932 it is 11-62 per cent. Traffic Transportation. The expenditure under this head was £1,465,052, an increase of £104,124 (7-65 per cent.). The 7|-per-cent. increase in salaries and wages amounted to £59,507, while staff promotions, the payment of scale increments, and the employment of additional staff accounted for a further sum of £44,958. Taking the year 1926 as the standard, and fixing the index figure for that year at 100, the following shows the position in respect of traffic-transportation expenditure over a period of five years. 1926. 1932. 1933. 1934. 1935. 1936. Total expenditure .. 100 82 72 72 78 84 General Charges. The expenditure under this head totalled £232,293, as compared with £228,874, an increase of £3,419 (1-49 per cent.). The 7|-per-cent. increase in salaries and wages accounts for this additional expenditure. SUBSIDIARY SERVICES. Subsidiary Service Revenue.—The revenue from subsidiary services amounted to £760,798, as compared with £719,864 for the previous year, and an analysis of the figures is as follows :— 1935-36. 1934-35. 1933-34. £ £ £ Lake Wakatipu steamers.. .. .. 10,598 10,647 9,617 Refreshment service .. .. .. 89,132 79,817 73,657 Bookstall service .. .. .. 45,798 36,846 20^786 Advertising service .. .. .. 31,774 30,030 32,707 Departmental dwellings .. .. ..129,255 105,338 137,238 Leases of bookstalls, &c. .. .. 17,909 17,346 15,749 Road motor services .. .. .. 103,280 90,278 79J84 Miscellaneous .. .. .. ..333,052 349,562 334,938 £760,798 £719,864 £703,876

X

Consumption. Cost. 1936. 1935. 1936. 1935. ; I lb- lb. d. d. Per engine-mile .. .. .. .. .. 64-07 63-31 7-77 7-77 Per engine-hour .. .. .. .. 673-78 669-76 81-72 82-16 Per thousand gross ton-miles .. .. .. 405-90 407-58 49-23 50-00