246 



THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL. 



[August, 



directed towards railways. On many of the English lines the expense has 

 heen from 700,000 to 800,000 fr. (£44,800 to £.')0,200 per mile. In 

 France we cannot expect the cost to be less than 350,000 to 400,000 fr. on 

 the average (£22,400 to £25,600 per mile). 



Comparison of Fares charged in England, Belgium, and France. 



On the first view, one would imagine the difference between one railway 

 and another to be so great that it would be vain to attempt to reconcile them 

 and deduce general laws. The fares, the number of passengers, their distri- 

 bution among the classes of carriages, would seem liable to infinite variation 

 according to the frequency of trains, the gradients, the curves, and every 

 thing else which has an influence on the expense and profits. M. JuUien 

 has, however, in the general results, collected some very singular coincidences. 

 What can be more dissimilar than the rate of fares in England, France, and 

 Belgium ? The fare per mile actually received appears on the average — 



Then, again, the manner in which the passengers are distributed into the 

 three classes differs very considerably. Of 100 passengers the average pro- 

 portion in each kind of carriages will be — 



In England 18 passengers in the first class, 4& in the second, 36 in the third. 

 In France 15 „ „ SO „ 85 „ 



In Belgium 10 „ „ 27 „ 63 



The total return per mile is in England £2,526, in Belgium £1,160. It 

 is nevertheless a curious fact that the traffic is apparently the same in Bel- 

 gium as in England, and it is the traffic which affords the criterion of public 

 utiUty. The Birmingham railway now produces £7,208 per mile ; the Or- 

 leans line returns are stated at less than £3,200 per mile; M. Bartholony in 

 a recent work has stated the amount at £2,816; but the Orleans railway 

 \\\\\ have numerous extensions, and will produce probably one half the return 

 of the Birmingham, with a rate of fare half less, and on the supposition of an 

 equal traffic. 



M. Jullien has also pointed out another resemblance. The English lines, 

 on the average, derive twc«thirds of their revenues from passengers and one- 

 third from luggage, and the proportion is found to be as nearly as passible 

 the same in Belgium. 



Comparison of the Actual Cost of Conveyance in the Three Countries. 



What is most singular is that, on the railways of all countries, the total 

 amount of general expenses corresponding to the running of a train over one 

 kilometre of ground is as nearly as possible 3 fr. (about 3s. 10;/. per mile), 

 and this expense is divided into two equal parts, of which one represents the 

 force of locomotion and the wear of material, the other the expense of ma- 

 nagement by clerks and superintendents and the general working of the rail- 

 way. 



To express by a clear formula the expense of working a railway, M. 

 Jullien has drawn a relation between the goods carried and the passengers 

 who form the principal item of the receipts. The basis of this relation is 

 perfectly plausible. He has accordingly expressed the whole amount of 

 traffic, both for goods and passengers, by a certain number of passengers. 

 His unit of calculation is one passenger carried one mile, and all he has to 

 find is the cost of this unit including every expense. He has found that it 

 is — 



Per kilometre. Per mile. 



On the Belgian lines 2-7 cents or •432 of a penny 



On the Orleans in 1844 2 9 „ "464 



On the Gard in 1842 2-7 „ ^432 



„ in 1843 2.5 „ .4 „ 



On the St. Etienne and Lyon in 1843 when the difficulties -., 



were peculiarly great •* "^ »» *^" »» 



On the Strasburg and Basle, the trafBc being small .. 4-5 „ '72 



On the Euglish lines, exactly 4-8 „ •738 „ 



The last amount however includes the English Government tax, and is 

 accounted for by the smaller number of passengers in each train, for the 

 English companies, correctly or erroneously, prefer a few passengers paying 

 well to a great number paying little : they also have very frequent trains, 

 persuaded justly that what most concerns them is not to spend comparatively 

 little but to obtain a large gross return. If the passengers of an average train 



• It is sinfnilar to observe in the above table that the fare of a third class passenger in 

 England is that of a second class passenger in France and of a first class passenger in 

 Belgium. In the above calculation we have reckoned the centime = _l- of a penny, but 

 its real value is at present rather less.— Ed. 



t \t'e wee much struck with the low charges of railway travelling in Belgium, as com- 

 pared with those of England. From Antwerp to Brussels, for example, a distance of 24 

 wiles, the fares are,— diligences' 3 francs 50 cents; chars-a-bancs, 2 francs 25 cents ■ and 

 wagons, 1 franc 75 cents ; that is 2s. 9id , Is. 74d.,and Is. 44d. ; whereas the same' dis- 

 tance upon any of the great lines in England would be above 6s., 4s. and 2s. Upon an 

 average we found it to be only abont one-half the expense of similar travelling at home. 

 The consequence is, that far more people travel by railway in Belgium than in England. 

 We were astonished at the crowds that went with us in every direction, but more panicu^ 

 larly between Brussels and Antwerp, and towards Ghent and Bruges. Theincreasein the 

 receipts of the different lines has been great, as the advantages have been developed. The 

 lines now in operation were completed in Octobei, 1843; since which time their receipts 

 have Increased in an extraordinary proportion. During the past year (IK44) the traffic of 

 heavy merchandise was nearly double the amount of the preceding year, amounting to 

 about ,'500,000 tons. The increase of passengers was still more extraordinary-, that traffic 

 alone having realized something not far short, it is said, of 10,000,000 of francs.—' Kam- 

 say'a Belgium itad the Rhine.' 



were the same in number in England as in France, and if the government 

 tax were equal also, the cost of each passenger per mile would be the same 

 as with us. 



Merchandise. 

 According to M. JuUien's comparison a ton of merchandise carried by slow 

 trains costs rather more than 5 centimes in France and Belgium, (-8 of a 

 penny per mile), and in England 7 centimes (1-12 d. per mile.) 



Proportion of Expenses to Profits in the three countries. 



With us the Government often, and the committees of the Chamber of 

 Deputies always, have admitted as an absolute rule, that on a railway the ex- 

 pense represents 45 per cent, of the returns whatever their amount, from 

 which it is concluded that the net profit is 55 per cent, of the receipts. This 

 opinion has had the unfortunate effect of greatly exaggerating the net profit 

 of poor railways. M. Jullien has not had much trouble in proving the in- 

 accuracy of this opinion, all accredited as it is. The more railways are fre- 

 quented, or, the traffic remaining the same, the more the fares are raised, the 

 greater proportion will the profit bear to the total returns. For there are a 

 large number of constant expenses which have to be incurred in every case. 

 On the English railways, which in 1842 gave altogether a receipt of HI 

 millions of francs, or f£4, 625, 000), and an expenditure 48 millions of francs, 

 or (£2,000,000), the expense was not more than 43 per cent, of the total re- 

 ceipts ; consequently the net profit was 57 per cent.; and it would have 

 been as much as 62 per cent, if the English Government tax wt re as mode- 

 rate as our own. On the Belgian lines however tlie expenses are 60 per cent, 

 instead of 43, and on the Strasburgh and Basle 73 per cent. 



In the expenses as stated above, the interest of capital is not included ; all 

 that is reckoned is the actual cost of working the lines : otherwise w-e should 

 have to add in France to the expense a sum of 17,500 fr., or 20,000 fr. per 

 kilometre (£1,120 to £1,280 per mile), representing an interest of 5 per 

 cent, on the cost of constructing a railway with a double line of rails. And 

 since we can scarcely expect in France an average total return much larger 

 than that of the Belgian lines, which is about 20,000 fr. per kilometre, thi« 

 item alone swallows up the total receipt. 



Reserve Fund for renewal of rails. 

 In the accounts of railways an item ought to be presented which has not 

 hitherto been introduced into them, because the railways are at present new, 

 but which will soon have to find a place : and that is — an annual reserve to 

 collect the capital necessary for a future renewal of the rails. How long will 

 the rails last .' Twenty years, perhaps, and the crossings and sidings ten or 

 twelve. A double line costs about 80,060 fr. per kilometre (£5,120 per 

 mile). To form this capital M. Jullien proposes to reserve annually 4,000 fr. 

 per kilometre of the line (£256 per mile.) M. Jullien is right, and the com- 

 missioners have made a great mistake in omitting this consideration in their 

 calculations. The capitalists, if they be wise, and seek, not adventurouH 

 speculations, but sound investments, will not commit the same error. On 

 the whole the perusal of M. JuUien's Memoir is of the nature to abate any 

 very exalted notions on the subject of railways, and will give valuable in- 

 formation to those about to embark their fortune in those enterprises. 



THE RAILWAY GUAGE. 

 The investigation of the merits of the guages has occasioned much excite- 

 ment in the public mind, and much has been said pro and con respecting the 

 advantages of the differeat width of the rails on the various roads now extant 

 — indeed, on the question of whether a 4 ft. 81 in., or a 7 ft. in.* guage ia 

 the better ; the real question, as to the nature and efl'ect of the difl^erence has 

 not been much attended to. In ushering in the question, Mr. Cobden ob- 

 serves that a 4 ft. 8 5 in. answers very welt, as does a 7 ft. 6 in. guage — con- 

 sequently, it is to be deduced that it does not much matter what the guage 

 is at all. It must be admitted, that at the present rate of travelling, the 

 passengers are conveyed along the different lines to their destination, with 

 moderate punctuality, and with only occasional accident — in point of fact, 

 that there is some degree of certainty of proceeding from station to station, 

 at a speed of at least twenty miles an hour — that there is 100 chances to 1 

 that none of the axles break — 200 to 1 that there is not an empty carriage 

 or two accidentally left on the line — and 1000 to 1 that the embankment has 

 not broken down, or that the engine does not blow up altogether ; thereby 

 affording much consolation to the passengers, and reflecting great credit up- 

 on the engineer, clerks, and porters, who thus provide for their safety ; but 

 this is not a sufficient answer to the inquiry, nor, in point of fact, does it 

 much help the investigation. The question is, is it possible by any arrange- 

 ment to get greater speed and greater security .' There can be little doubt 

 that twenty-five miles an hour might be obtained with an engine on a 2 feet 

 guage; but here the question being pushed to the verge of absurdity — the 

 answer to the inquiry, of whether it is politic to lay down such lines, be- 

 comes self-evident — the engineer would be scouted who w-ould propose it, 

 and the public, without knowing the philosophical reasoning upon the sub- 



* It is rather surprising to hear so good an authority as the " Jlining Journal" talking 

 of a "7 ft. in. guage." The broadest guage which we are acquainted with is that of 

 7 feet. 



