304 Mr Anderson on the Railways of Belgium. 



Switzerland was by the slow and tedious navigation of the 

 Lower Rhine and tlie Meiise ; but by the junction of the 

 Rhine with the Scheldt, by railway communication, the traffic 

 was expected to be carried through Belgium. The line 

 was only opened from end to end in October last ; so that 

 time has not yet been given to verify the anticipations of the 

 Belgian rulers. But it must be allowed that the scheme was 

 good, the more especially when we consider that a great 

 European line has been projected from Cologne to Dussel- 

 dorf, Lippstadt, Minden, Hanover, Brunswick, and Magde- 

 burg, to unite with the Prussian railroads, and from Dresden, 

 the south-eastmost extremity of their system, to join the 

 line from Brunn to Vienna by Prague. A line has also been 

 proposed from Vienna to Pest, to pass by Baden, Olden- 

 bui"g, and Raab, and another to proceed nearly north from a 

 point in the Vienna and Olmutz railway to Cracow, Rad- 

 omsk, and Warsaw. Thus, two of the principal cities, Berlin 

 and Vienna, and a great part of the most thickly populated 

 countries in Europe, will be in direct communication with 

 the German Ocean, making the Belgian railroads from Prussia 

 to Ostend or Antwerp a portion of the great European line. 

 There is at present in course of being consti'ucted a line 

 from Lille to Paris by Douay, Arras, Amiens, and Pontoise, 

 with a junction from Douay to Valenciennes ; several sections 

 of which are expected to be opened next year, which will 

 likewise be of great advantage to Belgium. 



The accumulated length of the Belgian railroads amounts 

 to 348*122 miles. They consist partly of a double and partly 

 of a single way of 4 feet 8^ inches betwixt the rails of the 

 track, and a distance of 6 feet GJ inches betwixt the rail- 

 roads. It is impossible to determine the actual expense of 

 construction until the different lines are completed ; but in 

 1842, after the lines from Brussels to Antwerp, Malines to 

 Ostend, Malines to Ans, Landen to St Trend, and the sec- 

 tion of Brussels to Mons, on the line from Brussels to Quiev- 

 rain, had been finished, and the remainder of the lines esti- 

 mated, the anticipated cost was L. 5,330,91 5, or L.15,313 per 

 mile. This expense, however, is not nearly in proportion to 

 the extent of the different lines, but varies very much, not- 

 withstanding the generally flat nature of the country. The 



