772 



RAILWAYS. 



Hi-company them; it \vasnecebsnryto I'oi ward them 

 by the ordinary roads. 



The following statements will show how fur the 

 'Belgian surpass the English railroads in cheapness 

 of fares. In the former country there are four 

 classes of carriages, the cheapest of which is only 

 two-sevenths, or less than one-third of the English, 

 and only four-tenths of Id. per mile. In England 

 there are sometimes not more than two classes, the 

 lowest of which bears a very different and a much 

 higher proportion to the superior carriages. The 

 Manchester and Liverpool railway affords a favour- 

 able opportunity of comparison, as the distance is 

 about the same as that between Brussels and Ant- 

 werp; the former being about 30 miles, and the 

 latter 27i miles. The fares are as follows: 



Liverpool and Manchester. 1837. I Brussels and Antwerp 



*. <l. ! i. d. 



Mails . . . . 6 6 IVrlim . . . 2 11 



Coin-lies . . .56 Diligences . . 26 



Waggons . . .40 Chars-a-banc . .18 



Waggons ... 1 Oi 



On the English line, therefore, the lowest class 

 is nearly two thirds of the highest, and the rate 

 per mile for the lowest class is equal to the rate of 

 the highest on the Belgian lines, viz 



Mails 



Waggons 



pool and Manchester. 

 . . 2'. it. per mile. 

 2|d. 

 ijd. 



kreragc of Belgian Lines. 



Berlins . lid. per. mile. 



Diligences . lid. 

 Chars-n-banc Id. 

 Waggons . jd. 



The following are the rates of fares on some 

 other of the English lines: 



Table of Farer, and Sate thereof per Mile, on various Railway*. 



TABLE CONTINUED. 



The above table shows that among the lines 

 having one of their termini in London, the fares 

 are highest on the Birmingham, and lowest on the 

 Southampton, leaving out of consideration the 

 Greenwich line, which, from its difference of 



length, cannot enter into the comparison. The 

 charge, however, on the Newcastle and Carlisle 

 line is from one-filth to one-third less than any of 

 the others. It proves also that no unifoun princi- 

 ple has guided the directors of railway companies 

 in determining the rates of fares. In general the 

 charge by the second class, or open carriages, is 

 about two-thirds of that by the first class car- 

 riages ; but this is not the case on the Newcastle 

 and Carlisle line, where the proportion amounts 1,1 

 three-fourths; nor on the Greenwich, unon which 

 line it is only one-half. The most striking fact, 

 however, is, that the cost of construction appears 

 to have no influence whatever upon the fare-. 

 There is no difference in this respect (at least in 

 the first class carriages) between the Dublin and 

 Kingstown line, which cost 42,000 a mile and 

 the Newcastle and Carlisle, which cost 10,000; 

 and a very slight difference between the Grand 

 Junction, which costless than 20,000 a mile, and 

 the London and Birmingham, which cost 40, 000. 

 The fares also on the Greenwich are the same in 

 amount as those on the Dublin railway (both short 

 lines), although the distance is only one-half as 

 great : but they bear no proportion to the differ- 

 ence of cost, which was five times greater on the 

 former line. If this element may thus be left out 

 of consideration, on what grounds have the direc- 

 tors proceeded? Simply, it would appear, on tliat 

 of fixing the highest rate which the public will 

 consent to pay, or upon the principle maintained in 

 the post-office, of determining what quantity of 

 traffic will yield as much profit as they require at 

 the rates which they choose to fix, and neglecting 

 or resisting an equivalent increase at a lower rate, 

 because they are unwilling to incur the risk of loss 

 by finding more carriages and more extensive ac- 

 commodation. It is not sufficient to assert that 

 the fares are moderate, and the accommodation 

 adequate to the present traffic. The experience of 

 the railroad system itself, compared with turnpike 

 roads, proves that as the fares are reduced, and the 

 accommodation is extended, the traffic will more 

 than proportionably increase. There can, indeed, 

 be no doubt that if the present high rate of charge 

 be maintained, the monopoly which railways possess 

 will prove a great obstacle to increased travelling. 

 That the directors have little to fear from adopt- 

 ing a system of low fares will appear from the fol- 

 lowing comparison of the present amount of tra- 

 velling in England and Belgium. 



The Liverpool and Manchester railroad offers a 

 very favourable comparison for this country, as 

 the intercourse between those two towns is per- 

 haps greater than between any other two places at 

 an equal distance. The number of passengers 

 booked at the company's offices on that line since 

 its opening has been as follows: 



In 1830 (from 16th September to 30th December) 71,951 



1831 (the whole year) .... 445,0 17 



1832 . ... 356,945 



1833 . ... 386,492 



1834 ... 436,637 



1835 .... 473,849 

 183G .... 522,991 



The population of the towns on this line, ex- 

 clusive of the adjacent districts, which teem with 

 inhabitants engaged in commerce and manufactures, 

 was, in 1831, Liverpool, 196,694; Manchester, 

 270,963; Warrington, 19,155 ; total, 486,812. 

 This number could not have been less in 1836 than 

 523,000, which is the number of passengers using 

 the railroad in that year. On an average, there 



