Progress and Consolidation.

While the numerous serious train accidents which have been recorded of late on the French railways undoubtedly give cause for some concern, as to the efficiency of the operating methods there followed, there has recently been witnessed marked progress in almost every branch of railway activity across the Channel. Almost all of war's ravages have now been made good; tens of thousands of well-planned homes have been built for the railway workers, in place of the battered shacks left after the Armistice; elaborate schemes of electrification have been put in hand; and train services everywhere augmented to meet the needs of growing passenger and freight business.

Following the lead set by Britain six years ago, an ambitious scheme for the grouping of the French lines, in the interests of economy and efficiency, is now being considered. Under this scheme, there is planned the taking over by the Eastern Railway of the railway system of Alsace-Lorraine, which is at present administered by the French government from head-quarters at Strasbourg. The fusion of the Orleans and the State Railways is also proposed as well as intimate working arrangements between the Orleans and Midi (Southern) undertakings in train working in south-western France. Under conditions such as exist across the Channel, there would appear considerable scope for judicious grouping, and the Superior Railways Council in Paris is to be congratulated on the determined fashion in which the problem of consolidation is being tackled.