The Sun.
London, England, 1866-04-30 00:00:00

Railway and other Companies.

GREAT INDIAN PENINSULA.

The report of the directors states that the average
number of miles worked by the company during the
half year was 601.8, as compared with 565.1 miles
in the corresponding half of 1864. This increased
mileage was owing to the opening for traffic on Feb.
1, 1865, of the Thull Ghat incline from Kussarah to
Egutpoora, 9i miles ; on Nov. 20, 1865, from Bhos-
sawul to Bhoorhanpoor, on the main line to Jubbul-
poor, 34 miles ; and on Dec. 18, from Sheagaum to
Budnaira, on the Nagpoor branch, 721 miles ;
total, 1151 miles. The gross receipts of the half-
year ending Dec. 31 last, on revenue account,
amounted to £617,969, or £1,027 per mile, against
£313,175, or £554 per mile in the half-year ended
Dec. 31, 1864. The expenditure of the half-year
amounted to £368,387, or 59.61 per cent. of the re-
ceipts, against £229,462, or 73.26 per cent. in same
period of 1864, leaving £249,582 as net profit to be
carried to the credit of the company's interest ac-
count with the Government. A further length of
86 miles of line was expected to be opened about
the present time—viz., from Boorhanpoor and
Kundwa, on the main line to Jubbulpoor, 421 miles;
and from Budnaira to Kowta, on the Nagpoor
branch, a distance of 01 miles ; and also that the
main lines as far as Etarsee (Hoosingabad) on the
way to Jubbulpoor, and the whole of the Nagpoor
branch might be opened for traffic early next year.
The opening to Kundwa would connect the railway
with the direct road to Indore, and with the fertile
territories of H.H. Holkar and H.H. Scindia,whence
a large and increasing traffic for the railway
might be anticipated. The contractors for the sec-
tion of line, 116/ miles, from Sohagpoor Jubbul-
poor, having apprised the directors in September
last that they were unable to complete their contract
on the existing terms, it was closed. The chief resi-
dent engineer had every reason to believe from the
manner in which the works had been recommenced
that this important section connecting the two great
trunk lines of India would proceed rapidly. Upon
the South-East line the contract for the construc-
tion of the remaining section from Kulburga to
Raichoor (the junction with the Madras Railway),
881 miles in length, was in December last let to Mr
J. Bray, and thus the works of the entire under-
taking were in progress. It had been decided, with
the sanction of the Government, to double at once
the portion of the railway (1901 miles) between
Egutpoora at the top of the Thull Ghat incline and
Bhosawal, the point of junction of the main line to
Jubbulpoor and Nagpoor branch. It had also been
decided to double the section (29 miles) between
Callian Junction and Kurjut at the bottom of the
Bhore Ghat incline on the south-east line. The line
being at present double from Bombay to Callian and
upon both Ghats, and the works of doubling being
already in progress from Callian to Kussarah at the
foot of Thull Ghat, the line would, by the doubling
of those additional sections, be made a double line
from Bombay throughout to Bhosawal, 275/ miles,
on the north-east line ; and from Bombay to La-
nowlee at the top of the Bhore Ghat incline, 791
miles, on the south-east line. The gross traffic of
the past half year had been at the rate of £39 10s.
per mile per week, which exceeded the estimate of
traffic for a single line; and the average receipts
for the 11 weeks of the current half year from Ist
Jan. last, being equal to £56 per mile per week,
thus establishing conclusively that the decision to
double the line to Bhosawul and to Kurjut had not
been arrived at a moment too soon. The sanctioned
share capital of the company amounted to
£13,000,000 and the debentures to £3,000,000,
giving*a total authorised capital of £16,000,000.
Of that amount £13,910,676 had been paid up to
Dec. 31 ; the expenditure to the same date amounted
to £13,020,143, leaving a balance then in hand of
£890,533.