1896. VICTORIA. VICTORIAN RAILWAYS. REPOR1, OF TH& VICTORIAN RAILWAYS COMMISSIO:t~ER FOR THE YEAR ENDING 30TH JUNE, 1896. PHESENTIW TO BOTH HOUSES <m PARLIAMENT PUHSUANT TO THE AC'l' 54 VTCT•HU.It i'<o 1Ja5 AND ACT No. 1439. Bv flut~oritv: ltOB'l'. S. BRAIN, GOVER:>~TEXT PRINTER, MELBOtiRNlt. No. 38.-[ls. 9d.]-6749. APPROXIMATE COST OF REPORT. £ s. d. Preparation-Not given Printing (1,172 copies) 88 0 0 REP 0 RT. VICTORIAN RAILWAYS, 12th September, r896. To the Honorable the llfinisteT rif Railways. Sm, In accordance with the provisions of the 59th section of the Railways Act, No. r r 3 5, I have the honour to submit, for the information of Parliament, the Annual He1)ort upon the working of the Railway Department for the year ending 3oth June, r 896. DEBENTURE CAPITAL. The amount of borrowed eapital was, on 3oth June last, £36,732,844 r rs. 4d., details of which are shown in the Appendix, Return No. 10. Additional debentnres amounting to £ r 9, 7 49 were issued under the Victorian Stock Act r 8 9 5 No. r 36 9. The Jiel bourne and Hobson's Bay United Rail way Company's debentures, amounting to £r 22,ooo, w·cre redeemed. The last of the company's stock, amounting to £3r,9oo, will he paid o:ff during the ensuing year. The interest for the year amounted to £I ,444, 770 Is. 8d., which, with £24,972 qs. rd., the amount paid by the Treasury for expenses in payment of interest, made the total £r,469,74-2 rss. 9d. From this, however, a sum of £IO,OOO has been dedueted, being the interest on £2 so,ooo transferred from Hailwa.Y Loan moneys to Irrigation 'Vorks and 'Vater Supply, Act 57 Vict. :Xo. 1327. Credit lws aJso been taken for £2 I' I 40 28. 3d., being per cent. on the unexpended balances of loan moneys raised for railway purposes. The net amonnt 4 debitPd to t1w Railway account 1s, therefore, £r,438,6o2 IJS. 6d., as per following detailed statement:-· Amount f!f Interest on Railwa,y Loans paid during the Year ending 3oth June, I 896. Loans. Iuterest. ···----··--·-··------- £ s. d. 42 Vict. No. 6oS 187,045 I6 3 36 Vict. No. 439 3.55f I8 f 37 Vict. No. f68 58,ooo 0 0 39 ':~et. ~o. 53 I s5,867 If 5 45 v 1ct. No. 717 I Io,76o f IO f6 Vi et. No. 7 39 8o,ooo 0 0 f6 Vi et. No. 74-1 f, 3Of 0 0 f7 Vict. No. 760 I 50,3 5 I 10 5 f8 Vi et. No. 8os 130,0f6 17 9 4-9 Vict. No. 845 r8o,ooo 0 0 51 Vict. No. 963 5,200 0 0 52 Vict. No. 989 93>586 19 I 54 Vict. No. I I96 77,913 0 ll 53 Vict. No. 1032 I Io,z 5o 0 0 55 Vi et. No. I 2 17 58,333 6 8 s6 Vi et. No. I 287 8.j.,280 0 0 53 Vict. No. IOI5 and No. 1341 26,ooo 0 0 56 Vict. No. I296 ... .. I8,s86 17 8 58 Vict. No. 1369 .. 6,0<}3 I 5 4 I,f40, I 2 5 8 42 Vict. No. 617 (Hobson's Bay) .. I f,6f5 0 0 I,f{4,770 I 8 Expenses in payment of Interest 24,972 14 I 1,469,742 I 5 9 Less 4 per cent. on £2 so,ooo amount transferre(l to Irri- gation '\V orks and Water Supply, 57 Vict.No. 1327 £10,ooo o o Less Interest at 2~ per cent. on weekly unexpended balances of Loan moneys zi,I.j.O 2 3 ; 31,If0 2 3 ,______ _ £I,fJ8,6o2 13 6 The deficiency in meeting the interest charges for the year is, as shown in the profit and loss account, £583,68 5 4s. 6d. The result of working for the year may be summarized thus :- 'rota] traffic ... £2,401,392 Total working expenditure ... 1,546,47 5 NET PROFIT ON '\VORKING ... £854,917 The ratio of workiug expenses to gross revenue is 64·4o per cent., and, exclusive of pensions and gratuities ( £89,7 37) charged to railway working during the year, the percentage is 6o·66. 5 The following statements show details of Revenue and Expenditure for the last two years:- TOTAL HEYENUE. -~--------- ------~~- --------- 1894-5. 1895-6. I Increaee. DeC'rease. Net Decrease. - (Average ~Iiles open, (A\-erage ~.Jile111 open, 3,082£.) 3,121.) - --- --- -- - I £ '· d. £ s. d. £ .. d. £ s. d. £ G. J. Passengers ... ... ... I,o25,43I I4 3 I,o38,6I5 9 I I 3, I 83 I4 IO Parcels, &c. ... ... ... 93,592 I7 s 95·902 2 3 2,J09 4 IO Horses, carria. ges, and dogs ... Io,86s !6 0 I I,os8 2 IO I92 6 IO Mails ... ... ... 6I,886 I I 56,68 3 IO 4 .. 5,202 IO 9 Rents ... ... ... 52,086 2 8 so,667 I7 0 ... I,4I8 5 8 Miscellaneous ... ... ... I5,746 I9 3 II,29I I? 8 I ... 4.455 4 7 Live stock ... ... .. IZ5,I02 II IO qo,s so I2 5 5.448 0 7 Goods ... ... ... I,I96,879 2 0 I,oo6,622 I3 I ... I9o,256 8 II I I --~- .~ --~---~---~-~ ------ I I 2,58I,59I 4 6 ' 2,40I,392 I 8 I 2I,I33 7 I 2oi,332 9 II -------------!------ ------ I i Number of passengers ... ... 40,210,733 40·993.798 783,065 Tons of live s tack ... ... I04,277 I I77,745* 73.468 Tom of goods ... ... ... 2,33',58o I,985,977 .. 345,603 Train mileage ... ... .. 9,567,453 8,989,39 I ... 578,062 Revenue per average mile open ... £837 £769 ... £68 " t rain mile ... ... s~. 4'76d. ss. 4'IId. .. ·65d. I * The basis on which the tonnage of live stock is cakulated has been increased aslollows :-1 truck ol sheep lrom •! tons to 4 tons; I truck ol cattle front 4 tons to s~ tons. ToTAL ExPENDITURE. ' l8fH-5. 1895-6. ---- ------ ------ ---- --~ - ---- Increase. Decrease. Net lncreaso. Cost Per Cent. , Cost Per Cent. Amount. per Train to i Amount. per Train to 1\Iile. Revenue. j 1\Iile. Revenue. ------------- ---1------- ---------1 ---------- £ s. d. d. £ s. d. d. £ s. d. £ s. d. £ 8, d Maintenance ... 33I,I98 5 7 8'31 I2'83 36 5,848 2 4 9. 77 I5'23 34,649 I6 9 Loco. charges ... 478,+39 8 5 12'00 I8'53 450,488 II I2'03 I8'76 ... 27,95° I7 0 Carriages and i 51 wuggons 89,I29 4 7 2'24 3 '45 97.352 I2 3• 2'6o 4'05 8,223 7 8 Traffic charges 5I4,IJO I2 6 I2'90 I9'92 i 486,433 2 41 I2'99 20'26 ... 27,697 IO 2 I I I Compensation 6,8os I4 IO . I7 ·26 7,J2I I 0 . I9 • 3 I I 5 I 5 6 2 General charges I23,689 IO 4 3' IO 4 '79 I I 39,031 3 41 3. 7I 5'79 ji s,J4I I3 0 i ___ I ______ ------- -~--- -----~ ---------- --- s. d. ! d. I .. I I 1 I,543,392 I6 3 3 2'72 59'78 I ,546,474 I 2 8 5"29 64'40 !s8,7Jo 3 7 55,648 7 2 3,081 16 ' 3 I I s ' I I I I I The mileage has increased from 3, I 20 to 3, I 2 2t, owing to the opening of the line from Jumbunna to Outtrim. The following shows the additional mileage opened during the last eleven years:- Year ending June, 1886 67i miles I887 I37i " I888 1 " " 37t I889 " " I79-k " I89o 273i ," I89I " 293-! " I892 140 , " " I893 72 " " I894 .~, 45t " I895 98 " 1896 21. " " 4 " 6 The muuher of passengers conveyed was 40,993,798, as against 40,210,773 in 1894-5, being an increase of 783,065. The tonnage of goods was 1,985,977, as against 2,33t,58o, or a decrease of 345,603 tons. The train miles amounted to 8,989,391, as against 9,567,453, or a decrease of 578,o62. CAPITAL EXPENDITURE. The capital expenditure at 3oth June, 1896, amounted to£38,I08,151 9s. 7d., or an increase for the year of £r 8 5,944 14s. 4d., which was charged as follows:­ Construction of new lines and capital works on existing lines, &c. ... ... £1791 IIO II 9 Rolling-stock 6,834 2 7 RECAPITULATION. The following is a general summary of the leading features of the Report, and, for purposes of ready comparison, corresponding items for 1894-5 are given:- 1894-5. 189§-6. Total debenture capital raised £g6,83s,o95 £36,732,845 Net interest and charges £1,418,847 £1,438,603 Unspont bnhnces of loan moneys £I,344·268 £x,o69,307 Amount spent on construction during the year £173,643 £185,944 Total spent i u coustrnction £37,922,207 £38,108,15I At an average cost per mile opened of •.. £12,221 £12,272 Total mileage open for tmffic ... 3, I 20 miles 3,12zf milos Average lllileagc open for traffic 3,12 I 3,o82l " " Gross revcnne earned £z,s81,59I £z,4o1,392 Working cxpcndi tnrc £1,543,393 £1,546,475 PROFIT ON WORKING ... £1,038,198 £854,917 PERCENTAGE OF WORKING EXPENSES TO REVENUE 59·78 64·40 Percentage of' workiug oxpeusos to revenue (exclusive of ponsioni\ am! gratnitio~) s6·67 6o·66 Reveuue per nYornge mile opc:n £769 Expendilnro per an:mge mile open £5o1 ft96 Gross earnings per tmin mile ss.