PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE
Reference :-
EPIC.O. 882
لسلسالسا
ALLY WITHOUT PERMISSION OF THE BE REPRODUCED PHOTOGRAPHIC- COPYRIGHT PHOTOGRAPH-NOT TO
PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE, LONDON
72
Passenger train miles
Coaching receipts per passenger train mile
miles Rs.
36,500
4.38
Average number of passengers in a train
No.
27.56
=
Average sum received for carrying for one mile one passenger
(pics 22.17)
Rs.
0.1155
13
Average number of vehicles in passenger train
On examination of these figures the extraordinary smallness of the passenger traffic and the extremely high rates charged, which are generally from four to six times as much as on other railways in India, will be at once apparent, and from them I have deduced the following results :-
Each first class passenger on an average pays Rs. 13 19 for his ticket, and is carried 45 12 miles. Each second class passenger on an average pays Rs. 6-75 for his ticket, and is carried 34 18 miles. Each fourth or lowest class passenger on an average pays Rs. 2.21 for his ticket, and is carried 30·65 miles.
The average payment by each passenger of all classes taken together is Rs. 3.73, while the average distance he is carried is 32-26 miles.
open per annum
Number of passenger train miles mile
per Number of passengers carried on each mile of railway per annum - Total receipts from coaching traffic per mile open per annum
-
Miles 730
No. 623 Rs. 3,202
It is very apparent from the large sums paid by passengers, and from the average distance travelled by each of them, that nearly all the passenger traffic must be through," or from terminus to terminus; that is to say, it is of the most remunerative description, as the carriages receive their full complement of passengers at starting, and retain it during nearly the whole journey of the train.
10. The following are the corresponding figures, as far as they are available, relating to the passenger traffic (excluding season-ticket holders and the payments by them) on the Ceylon Railways for 1884 :—
Number of first class passengers carried
First class fare per mile on the railway generally
Do.
do. Nánu-oya railway
Total receipts from first class
-
Number of second class passengers carried
Second class fare per mile on the railway generally
Do.
do. Nánu-oya railway
Total receipts from second class
Number of third class passengers carried, including coolies Third class fare per mile on the railway generally
Third class fare on the Nánu-oya railway
•
-
No. Rs.
49,491
0.08
0.12
2)
"
76,353
No.
121,681
Rs.
0.0533
35
·
"
0.08 69,800
No.
1,940,162
Rs.
0.0267
-
+
NOTE. Coolies in gangs of not less than six are carried in third class carriages at 1 cent. per mile, the mini- mum charge being Total receipts from third class
·
0.04*
-
0.25 665,873
Total number of passengers of all classes during 1884 Other coaching traffic
No. 2,111,334
Rs.
Total coaching receipts
11
104,852 916,878
An examination of these figures will render it at once apparent that the Ceylon railways have to deal with a very large passenger traffic, which is carried on the railway at rates generally from one-third to one-fourth of those levied on the Darjeeling-Himalayan railway; and from them I have deduced the following results :-
:- Average receipts from each first class passenger on the Ceylon
railways generally
73
The number of passengers carried on the Nanu-oya railway is not separately given, but by dividing the total receipts from passenger traffic on that line by an assumed average sum (viz., Rs. 0.56) received from each passenger, which is calculated from the average sum paid by each passenger on the Ceylon railways generally (viz., Rs. 0.38) increased by nearly one-half (that being the portion by which the fares per mile on the Nanu-oya railway exceed those charged on the Ceylon railways generally), it would appear to be approximately 63,898, equal to 4,889 carried over each mile per annum.
The coaching receipts per mile open per annum on the Nánu-oys railway are Rs. 2,738.
I have not been able to ascertain from the Administration Reports the number of passenger train miles run, the number of miles each passenger is carried, the coaching receipts per passenger train mile, the average sum received for carrying for one mile one passenger, nor the average number of passengers in a train; but from the figures given the following facts relating to the passenger traffic on the Ceylon railways
are most evident :-----
First, that passengers of all classes travel on the average but very short distances; that is to say, the carriages are very possibly fully laden during some portions of the journey, and nearly empty during others a condition very unfavourable for economical working.
Secondly, that although the number of passengers carried on each mile of the Ceylon railways generally per annum is more than twenty-two times that carried on the Darjeeling- Himalayan railway, yet the total coaching receipts per mile of line per annum are actually less than double those on that line; pointing most clearly to the exceptionally low rates of fares ruling on the Ceylon railways, which, for third class passengers, who form the vast majority, are between certain stations in and near Colombo as low as two cents only, a sum which I imagine can hardly cover the cost of printing the tickets, and can certainly only leave an infinitesimally small margin for profit, if indeed traffic of this nature be not actually carried at a loss. A comparative statement giving full details of the passenger traffic on the Darjeeling railway, the Ceylon railways generally, and the Nánu-oya railway, is appended. (See table No. 1.)
11. If from competition or some other reason the Darjeeling Railway Company were compelled to lower their passenger rates to those ruling on the Nánu-oya railway in 1884, which, it will be observed are for first and second class passengers 50 per cent. bigher than those on the rest of the Ceylon railway system (the receipts, Rs. 43,946, "from other coaching traffic" remaining unaltered), their total coaching receipts would sink from Rs. 160,098 to Rs. 94,876, or from Rs. 4 38 to Rs. 2.60 per train mile, a most serious fall, the full effects of which will be discussed hereafter.
12. Turning now to the goods traffic of the Darjeeling-Himalayan railway, the following rates are given :—
Special food grain per ton per mile, 58'79 pies
Coal per ton per mile, 39.19 pies
First class goods per ton per mile, 81 66 pies (3 pies per maund)
Second class goods per ton per mile, 108 88 pies (4 pies per maund)
Third class goods per ton per mile 136·10 pies (5 pies per maund)
Ro.
0.306
0.204
-
0.425
0.567
0.709
The following is a statement of all goods carried and receipts therefrom during 1884 :—
Coal and coke
Tons.
Description.
Receipts.
Rs.
Animals, live, for sale
—
489
2,249
12,933
Cotton, manufactured
599
16,410
Grain and pulses
3,829
50,398
Rs.
1.54
Hides and skins
50
914
Do. Do.
second class
do.
29
0.57
Liquors
..
394
11,042
third class
do.
·
0.34
"
Metals, and manufactures of
1,255
26,093
Do.
of all classes
do.
0.38
Oils
340
7,159
Number of passengers carried on each mile of railway per
Provisions
778
14,514
annum
·
No.
Total receipts from coaching traffic per mile open per annum
Rs.
18,872 6,024
Salt
558
9,261
Seeds
56
1,141
Spices
·
87
2,327
• From the 1st January 1986, the third class fare on the Nánu-oys Railway was reduced to Rs. L ́0267, being that ruling on other portions of the Ceylon Railway system.
Sugar
284
4,789
Tea
3,598
68,170