17 369 been a rise in the price of coal. Purchases of rolling stock from revenue have been curtailed, but it will be necessary to restore in future years the amount provided on this account. On the other hand, the relief staff, an expensive necessity in a country where the train service is the same all the seven days of the week, is being reinforced in order to give more rest to the employes. Every effort has been made to avoid discharging staff, so that it has not been possible to cut down expenditure to the extent that the reduced earnings would at first sight appear to justify.

Credits to the amount of £E. 400,000 have been granted from the Reserve Fund for capital expenditure on the railways during the current year, the more important -being as follows :— £E. Construction of the line from Ashmouii to the Barrage .. .. 86,000 Construction of the line from Zifteh to Zagazig .. .. .. 16,000 Extension of the Cairo-Marg line to Khanka and Abou Zaabal .. .. 42,000 Improvement of the signalling system on the main line .. .. ., 74,000 Reconstruction of Alexandria station .. .. ,, .. .. 25,000 Reconstruction of Talkha bridge .. .. .. ,. ., 45,000 Turning to the final results of 1909, the receipts, for the second year in succession, show a decrease, and there was, as compared with the preceding year, a falling off of about 2 per cent, in the volume of passenger traffic and 7 per cent, in the weight of goods carried, the reduction in the latter case being chiefly under the heads of cotton, coal, timber and other building materials, and sugar. In order to reduce the expenditure, the number of goods trains run was diminislied by 10 per cent.

Capital expenditure during 1909 amounted to £E. 362,000. Progress was made with the new line from Marg to Abou Zaabal, though delay was caused by difficulties in obtaining possession of land. Improvements continue to be introduced into the signalling system, and the interlocking of all stations between Cairo and Alexandria is now complete, with the exception of Tantah, where the work is nearly complete. At Cairo, the extension of the main station building has been finished, and improved methods for dealing with the large third-class passenger traffic are being introduced, including the provision of subways in connection with the new platforms.

The following table enables a comparison to be made of the working of the railways for the last three years :— Gross receipts Expenditure.. Net earnings.. ,. .. Gross receipts per kilometre of line open.. Net earnings „ Percentage of working expenses to gross receipts Number of passengers.. .. ., Tons of goods Estimated capital value of the railways .. Interest earned on capital 1907.

£E. 3.565.000 1.953.000 1.612.000 1,536 694 57-6 26,082.627 6,747,449 £E. 24,236,000 G • 65 per cent.

1909.

£E. 3,435,000 „ 2,082,000 „ 1,353,000 „ 3,473 „ 586 60-2 25,841,778 5,775,198 £E. 25,093,298 5*39 per cent.

£E. 3,258,000 ., 1,97.’>,000 „ 1,283,000 ,, 1,398 „ 551 60-G 25,306,000 .5,181,000 .£E. 25,293,000 5 • 07 per cent.

In June 1909, the Khargeh Oasis Railway was taken over by the Railway Administration, the Government having purchased the line from the Corporation of Western Egypt for £E. 12.5,000, half the amount spent on its construction. During the six months following the transfer, goods traffic increased by 40 per cent, and passenger traffic by 30 per cent., as compared with the corresponding period of the previous year. The rates have recently been reduced to the level of those of the other State lines, and a further increase in traffic is anticipated.

The returns of the Auxiliary Railways of Upper Egypt show an improvement on those of the previous year. Passenger traffic increased, and the sugar crop carried was considerably larger than in 1908. The system has now been extended into Beni-Souef, and further extensions are in progress.

The gross receipts of the Telegraph Department during the past year amounted to £E. 108,000 and the expenditure to £E. 104,000, practically the same figures as in 1908, The number of messages transmitted increased, however, by about 3,000.

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