D.—2.

The following table shows the cost of maintenance per vehicle and per vehicle-mile over a period of five years : —

The maintenance of wagons during the year entailed an expenditure of £698,497, an increase of £101,593 (17-02 per cent.) over the previous year. The main items of expenditure were : Wagon repairs, £86,340 ; and conversions and alterations, £12,846. Wagons receiving repairs in workshops during the year totalled 21,467, of which number 15,320 received heavy repairs and 6,147 light repairs. The comparative figures for the previous year are 21,104, 14,488, and 6,616 respectively. The following table shows the cost of maintenance per vehicle and per vehicle-mile over a period of five years : —

Examination, Lubrication, and Lighting of Rolling-stock. The expenditure on examination and lubrication of rolling-stock was £41,156, an increase of £5,905 (16-75 per cent.) compared with the previous year. The increase is due to the increased number of vehicles passing through workshops, higher wage-rates, the forty-hour week, and a greater vehiclemileage. The expenditure on the lighting of coaching vehicles was £37,571, an increase of £7,774 (26-09 per cent.), the main cause being higher wage-rates, the introduction of the shorter working-week, and greater consumption on account of increased mileage. Locomotive Transportation. This item of expenditure shows an increae of £277,254 (20-58 per cent.), the total amount expended being £1,624,383, as against £1,347,129 last year. In keeping with other items of maintenance the increase in expenditure under this head was largely attributable to various concessions granted to the staff in the way of improved wage and salary schedules, and the operation of the shorter (forty-hour) working-week. The increased expenditure in each Island is as.follows: North Island, £203,069; South Island, £74,185. The disparity in the increases shown as between the two Islands is due to the higher cost of coal in the North Island, the advance under this head being 26-68 per cent, in the North against 15-18 per cent, in the South, and to the fact that traffic showed a larger increase in the North Island than in the South. The quantity of coal used was 473,233 tons, an increase of 39,967 tons. This was due to an increase of 1,328,139 engine-miles (8-31 per cent.). The total consumption and cost of coal during the last three years are shown hereunder : — Consumption. Cost. Tons. £ 1936 .. .. .. .. .. .. 420,251 475,706 1937 .. .. .. .. .. .. 433,266 554,420 1938 .. .. .. .. .. .. 473,233 690,029 The average consumption of coal and cost of same per engine-mile, per engine-hour, and per 1,000 gross ton-miles for the last three years are shown in the following table : —

XII

Cost per Vehicle. Cost per Vehicle-mile. 1934. I 1935. | 1936. 1937. j 1938. 1934. 1935. I 1936. 1937. | 1938. £ £ £ £ £ d. d. d. d. d. 124 112 "139 156 184 1-67 1-57 1-70 1-82 2-06

Cost per Vehicle. j Cost per Vehicle-mile. 1934. | 1935. I 1936. | 1937. j 1938. 1934. | 1935. I 1936. I 1937. | 1038. £ £ £ £ £ d. d. d. d. d. 1G 17 20 22 26 0-64 0-65 0'69 0-72 0-77

Consumption. Cost. 1938. 1937. 1936. 1938. 1937. j 1936. lb. lb. lb. d. d. d. Per engine-mile .. .. 63-50 62-45 64-07 9-92 8-56 7-77 Per engine-hour .. 651-06 650-81 673-78 1.01-71 89-23 81-72 Per thousand gross ton-miles 389-46 389-72 405-90 60-84 53-43 49-23 »