British Railways

BRITISH RAILWAYS HUGH MUNRO ROSS sSi«-:i/^.:.=..=.;gS:^>..e^a K niocrsit^ of a ^ 4" 4 California 4 Digitized by the Internet Arciiive in 2007 with funding from IVIicrosoft Corporation ' http://www.archive.org/details/britishrailwaystOOrossrich BRITISH RAILWAYS THEIR ORGANISATION AND MANAGEMENT BY HUGH MUNRO ROSS, B.A. LONDON EDWARD ARNOLD 1904 All Rights Reserved ^iMCKELS PREFACE This little book aims at providing for the general, non-technical reader an account of the railways of the country, which may enable him to understand something of the conditions in which they work, the difficulties they encounter, and the problems they have to solve. It is not to be regarded as a text- book of railway management, and considerations of space have rendered it necessary altogether to omit some topics that might have been treated and to dismiss others with only a brief reference. Nor is it a statistical manual, the figures contained in its pages having been introduced not for their own sake, but simply for purposes of illustration and com- parison. H. M. R m 20 — CONTENTS CHAPTER I THE GROWTH OF THE SYSTEMS PAGE Construction of Railways—Promotion in Parliament—Board of Trade Inspection—Amalgamations—The Principal Systems —Mileage of Chief Lines 1 CHAPTER II COMPETITION, COMBINATION, AND CO-OPERATION Competition does exist — Alliances between different Com- panies—Pools and Agi-eements—Conferences—The Railway Clearing House 17 I CHAPTER III RAILWAY ADMINISTRATION : TRAFFIC DEPARTMENT Board of Directors—General Manager—Superintendent of the Line—Separation of Commercial and Operating Branches Devolution of Duties—Time-Tables and the Arrangement of Trains — Punctuality — Composition of Trains — Over- crowding , 37 CHAPTER IV RAILWAY ADMINISTRATION : OTHER DEPARTMENTS Secretary and Accountant—Stores—Engineer—Maintenance of Way—Signals— Electrical Engineer—Locomotive Superin- tendent—Carriage and Wagon Superintendent ... 59 vi CONTENTS CHAPTER V SOURCES OF REVENUE PAOB Miscellaneous Receipts—Docks and Steamboats—Passenger and Goods Traffic—Receipts from Passengers —Receipts from Goods—Density of Traffic—Train-Mile Receipts . 78 CHAPTER VI TRAIN-MILES AND TON-MILES Train-Mile Statistics—Their Deficiencies—Passenger-Miles and Ton-Miles—Advantages claimed for them—Do they afford a Test of Economical Working ? —Impossibility of separ- ating Passenger Expenses from Goods Expenses—Imper- fections of the Ton-Mile as a Unit—Meagreness of British Railway Statistics 100 CHAPTER VII CARRIAGE OF PASSENGERS Passenger Vehicles—Increased Weight of Trains—Increased Speeds—Diminished Remuneration from Passengers—Are First-class Passengers Profitable ?—The Loading of Pas- senger Trains—Mr. Aslett's Plan—Passenger Fares—Return Tickets—American Travelling 119 CHAPTER VIII CARRIAGE OF GOODS Standard British Trucks—The Argument for Wagons of Greater Capacity—Difficulties in the way of their use in this ' " Country — ' Private Wagons — Small Consignments — Prompt Delivery—Big Trains and Full Loads—Mineral Trains— General Merchandise Trains—Limiting Factors in the Size of Trains 150 — CONTENTS vii . CHAPTER IX GOODS RATES PAOB Excessive Charges—Caution required in comparing British and Foreign Rates—Differential Rates—Undue Preference—The Basis upon which Rates are fixed—What the Traffic will bear—What the Traffic will not bear . .176 CHAPTER X RATES LEGISLATION OP 1891 AND 1892 The Provisional Orders—Classification adopted—Station and Service Terminals—Scales of Rates for General Merchandise and Minerals—Scale for Live Stock—Scales for Perishable Articles and Small Parcels 197 CHAPTER XI CAPITAL, EXPENSES, AND DIVIDENDS High Capitalisation of British Railways—Its Explanation Cost of Construction—Causes of Growtli of Capital—Better- men ts and Capital Account—Productiveness of Capital Expended—Increased Expenses and Decreased Dividends Prospects of Future Improvement — Employment of Electrical Traction 212 Index 237 BRITISH RAILWAYS: THEIR ORGANISATION AND MANAGEMENT. CHAPTER I THE GROWTH OF THE SYSTEMS Construction of Railways—Promotion in Parliament—Board of Trade Inspection—Amalgamations—The Principal Systems—Mileage of Chief Lines. As a general rule, no railway can be constructed in the United Kingdom except with the sanction and authority of Imperial Parliament. It is true that any landowner is free to build a line on his own ground, and to operate it so long as he does not cause a nuisance or in any way interfere with the rights of his neighbours. Instances of such construction may be found in the line to the summit of Snowdon, and the private railway through the grounds of Eaton Hall to Balderton on the Great Western. But as soon as a railway constructor passes the boundaries of his own domain and has to enter the territories of other people, to cross public roads, to bridge rivers, and to do the various 2 BRITISH RAILWAYS other things without which a commercial railway is an impossibility, an Act of Parliament becomes indis- pensable. An apparent exception is furnished by so-called " light railways." By the Light Railways Act of 1896, the inquiry into the desirability of the proposed line, which is conducted by Parliament itself when an ordinary railway is concerned, is held locally (thereby avoiding the expense of bringing the witnesses up to Westminster) by three Commissioners, on whose " Order," confirmed (and perhaps modified) by the Board of Trade, the line may be constructed. But, as a matter of fact, this is not an exception. The Board must rather be looked upon as merely exercising powers delegated to it by Parliament for a specific purpose—delegated, moreover, to a strictly limited extent, for schemes which affect many important interests or involve some new principle or policy have still to be submitted to the consideration of Parliament itself. The object of this delegation of powers was to simplify procedure, and reduce the costs of promotion, which form an appreciable item in the capital expen- diture of a new railway, though not so large a one now as it sometimes was formerly. It may be taken, therefore, that before any important railway can be made the authorisation of Parliament must be obtained. The Standing Orders of the two Houses require that applications for new lines be filed in prescribed form, that written notices be served on landowners affected, and that drafts of the Bill, together with engineering details of the proposed works and a 5 per cent, deposit on their esti- mated cost, be lodged at specified times; and if the — THE GROWTH OF THE SYSTEMS 3 regulations are not exactly followed the Bill will prob- ably be killed in its infancy, and never reach the stage of being considered by either House. To guard against this mishap, the promoters employ the services of a parliamentary agent, part of whose business it is to pilot it through the dangers of parliamentary procedure. Having escaped shipwreck in its early stages, the Bill is read for a first and a second time in either the Upper or the Lower House, according as it originated in one or the other, and then comes before a Select Committee of that House. There the promoters marshal their evidence to prove that the proposed line will serve a useful purpose, that it is desired by the inhabitants of the localities through which it is to pass, and that it is likely to command sufficient traffic to pay. There also those who are opposed to it the landowners who think it will spoil the amenities of their lands, the local authorities which deem their districts will be injured by its construction or are dissatisfied with the accommodation it pro- poses, the competing railway companies which fear it will abstract some of their traffic, all combine in attempting to show that, for some reason or other because it is not wanted, or because the financial position of its promoters is not satisfactory, or because it cannot be a commercial success, or because the plans or estimates of its engineers are defective—its construction should not be sanctioned. Should the opposers be able to bring forward sufficiently strong objections to the scheme, or should the Committee form the opinion that it is unsound financially or otherwise undesirable, the Bill is thrown out and 4 BRITISH RAILWAYS becomes dead for that Session at least. If, on the other hand, it wins the approval of the Committee, it is sent, with or without modifications, to the House for third reading, after which it goes to the other House. There it is again read a first and second time, again considered by a Select Committee, and, if fortunate, again read a third time. Finally, it receives the Koyal Assent and becomes an Act. Before exercising their powers, the promoters must raise their capital. That done, they acquire the land necessary for their undertaking. With some of the landowners they will be able to agree as to the price to be paid, but others will make exorbitant demands which it is impossible to entertain. In dealing with these they find the benefit of having parliamentary authority behind them, for on serving " notices to treat " they can compel the proprietors to sell at what are adjudged to be fair values by an independent arbitrating tribunal which has heard all the circumstances as presented by both sides. The purchase having been settled, they take possession of the land, and the engineers come upon the scene, though sometimes a further delay is caused by the fact that a railway appropriating ground inhabited by the working classes is often required to provide suitable dwellings within a reasonable distance, to which the displaced population is supposed to migrate. The next few years are occupied in the actual work of construction,—in making cuttings and embankments, building bridges and viaducts, laying down the per- manent way, erecting the station buildings, fitting up the signals and telegraphic apparatus, etc. A definite THE GROWTH OF THE SYSTEMS 5 period (five years) is specified in the Act for the completion of the work, under penalty of fine, and if this time proves insufficient the railway company has to apply for a further Act extending it.

Load more