HA 1 1. WAYS 



bourne to Sidney is ran at 33 mile* an hour in- 

 cluding stops, and 37 miles excluding stops. 



Farts and Mates. The standard English pas- 

 senger fares may be taken at about IJd. per 

 mile first class, l|d. per mile second class, and 

 Id. |>er mile third class. The experience over a 

 series of years has shown a constant increase in 

 the volume of third-class travel, which in 1890 

 formed jths of the whole |assenger business in the 

 United Kingdom. In 18/2 the Midland Company 

 decided on the abolition of the second class, and in 

 1890 the Manchester, Sheffield, and Lincolnshire 

 Coni|>any and the Caledonian Company jiartly 

 adopted the same policy. The Midland Company, 

 however, by running Pullman drawing-room and 

 sleeping care at an extra fare, practically re-estab- 

 lished the three classes. In the United States the 

 average fare may be taken at 1 Jd. per mile, extra 

 charge being made for drawing-room and sleeping 

 cars. Tlii- following official statistics as to the 

 comparative fares per kilometre in the different 

 countries of Europe were published by the French 

 government : 



rim ClM. Stem* Clu.. Tklrd Ctu>. Fra Bull* 



KngUnd 12-5 centime*. 6-5 27 to 54 kilogn. 



France 1J-S 7 80 



German jr.... 11 -2 87 6-1 26 



Italy 12-4 87 none 



Belgium 9-5 7-5 . 6-0 none 



With regard to goods, the charges on British 

 railways are higher on the whole, init the speed 

 of the goods-trains and the character of the 

 service is superior. With long hauls in some 

 foreign countries of course lower mileage rates 

 can tie charged. The grain rates in America have 

 been reduced to about Jd. per ton per mile, and on 

 Indian railways, with cheap labour and fuel, a 

 standard of Jd. per ton ]>er mile has been reached. 



t'n/iitnl, J!i-ivHiir. tl-r. The act of parliament 

 authorising the construction of the Stockton and 

 Darlington Railway, the first used for passenger 

 traffic, received the Royal assent on 19th April 

 1821. The first rail was laid on 23d May 1822, and 

 on 27th September 1825 the railway was opened 

 with great ceremony. Four hundred and fifty pas- 

 sengers were conveyed in the first train. The 

 tram arrived at Darlington, a distance of 8j miles, 

 in 65 minutes. When fifty years later the jubilee 

 of the railway system was celebrated there were 

 16,449 miles of railway working in the United 

 Kingdom, representing a capital cost of 600,895,000, 

 and producing from traffic a revenue of 56,898,000, 

 of which 24,893,000 was received from passenger 

 fares and 32,005,000 from the conveyance of goods 

 anil minerals. 



At the close of 1897 there were 21,433 miles of 

 railway open for traffic. The authorised capital 

 for the construction of railways was 1,089,765,095, 

 of which English railway's had 896,411,043, 

 Scotti-li railways 153,KH7,">95, and Irish railways 

 39,466,457. The total receipts of these rail- 

 ways were 93,737,0.14, of which 79,759,776 

 was taken in England, li,4:tH,'.>;>7 in Scotland, 

 and 3,538,321 in Ireland. Of the total capital 

 stock of the railways in the United Kingdom, 

 103,061,275 is guaranteed, 27!,:l.<M.-> deben- 

 tures, 289,373,440 preferential, 42T>,501,582 ordi- 

 nary stocks and shams, and 12,507, 7.">:t loan-. 

 The gross receipts of all the companies is derived 

 Inim passengers, 40,518,064; goods, 47,857,172 ; 

 mails and parcels conveyed by j>a enger train-. 

 6,482,164 ; and miscellaneous items. The numlier 

 of passengers carried was 1,030,420,201, of whom 

 935,159,878 were third-clans. The total working 

 expenditure was 53,083,804, equal to 57 per cent. 

 <>f the gross receipts ; the net receipts were 

 40,653,250, giving a percentage of 3-73 in the 

 total capital. Of the working expenditure, 



13,712,718 was for locomotive power; 4,:i7l,l-21 

 for rc|iirs and renewals of carriages, &<. ; 

 8,610,U86 for maintenance of permanent way, 

 and 16,505,464 for traffic expenses. The rail- 

 way companies paid 116,3-2!) as coni|>eiisatioii for 

 personal injuries sustained in 1897, and L'.'il.'i.nHS as 

 coni|>ensation for damage and loss to goods traffic. 



The railway system of the United Kingdom has 

 not been developed according to any plan previously 

 marked out, nor does it owe any of the position 

 which it now holds to support or assistance given to 

 it by the state. It is the outcome of private enter- 

 prise carried on in very many instances under great 

 difficulties, ill spite of much national and local 

 prejudice, and at an expenditure o? capital greatly 

 in excess of that which would have been required 

 under more favourable conditions. In 1830 the 

 Duke of Wellington, then at the head of the 

 government, was asked to appoint some engineers 

 to lay out four or more main lines which wonlil 

 form the great highways for the locomotive. The 

 duke's reply was that he did not like railways ; 

 and Mr Goulbum, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, 

 declined to take any action in the matter, on 

 the ground that interference with vested interests 

 would create an amount of opposition which the 

 government could not withstand. Private enter- 

 prise speedily supplied the impetus to railway 

 development which the national government refused 

 to give. The Liverpool and Manchester Railway 

 was opened for traffic in 1830, and in 1838 there 

 was a completed liue between London und Birming- 

 ham. During the interval of the opening of these 

 two lines now absorbed in the London and North- 

 Western system fifty-six acte of parliament were 

 passed authorising the construction of 1800 miles 

 at a total estimated cost of 45 millions. 



The Railicay Mania. A later period marked 

 with greatly increased activity on tin- part of pro- 

 moters and engineers culminated in the 'Railway 

 Mania,' followed by a great financial collapse. 



Parliament had required as a condition pr dent 



of considering any new railway hills that a deposit 

 of ten ]T cent, of the estimated cost should be 

 lodged with the accountant-general l>y the pro- 

 moters, and five per cent, for parliamentary ex- 

 jicnseH. On the 30th of November in 1845, the 

 latest date at which the Board of Trade would 

 receive plans of new railways, there had been 

 lodged 1263 bills, with plans and sections for new 

 railways, representing a capital of 563 millions, 

 and requiring the de]x>sit of a total sum of 59 

 millions. The amount required for payment of the 

 deposit exceeded by more than 20 millions the 

 whole amount of gold and coin in the Bank of 

 England and notes in circulation. The publication 

 of these figures created alarm, and a panic ensued. 

 the stocks of existing railways were greatly de- 

 preciated, and the. premiums on the shares of the 

 newly-promoted companies, which had been created 

 by a wild spirit of speculation, disappeared, and 

 wide-spread ruin and commercial disaster ensued. 

 The result was that, of the 1263 coni|Kinies which 

 were promoted, 120 only survived the ordeal of 

 parliament. 



Kni/mn/ Aitininixtration.Vfiio 1891 there had 

 been passed over 4000 separate acts of parliament 

 authorising the construction "f new or dealing with 

 the constitution and working of existing companies. 

 in order to compensate to some extent for the lack 

 of original design and system in connection with 

 l In 'rail ways, the companies have resorted to numer- 

 ous plans for amalgamation, fusion, purchase, or 

 working agreements between themselves. There 

 were in 1891, after numerous changes and dissolu- 

 tions, 516 railway companies in the United King- 

 dom. Of the railways owned by these eontpulM 

 266 are worked or leased by other companies. The 



