On Time!

“Punctuality,” said Louis XIV., “is the politeness of kings.” It is also, as Samuel Smiles told us in that wonderful volume “Self-Help,” “the duty of gentlemen, and the necessity of men of business.”

In the railway world the necessity for punctuality is ever present. A railway that runs its trains to time speedily earns the good-will of the traveller, and a reputation for efficiency. The Home railways have an enviable record in this regard, and by far the bulk of the long and short-distance trains here operated arrive at their destinations on time, or comparatively near booked time.

From the Southern Railway headquarters at Waterloo Station, London, there have recently been issued some especially interesting statistics bearing on passenger train punctuality month by month. During a typical month, some 102,090 week-day steam trains were operated on the system, and 81,070, or 79.4 per cent. of these ran absolutely to time. Only 68 trains lost more than 20 minutes on the journey, and for the whole of the 102,090 steam trains run, the average late arrival at destination was only 64 minutes per train. During the same month 67,731 electric trains were operated on week-days, and 58,568 of these ran absolutely to time.

On the freight side, during the month in question there were run 15,695 goods trains, and 89.5 per cent. of these left at booked time. The average late arrival at destination was only a trifle over seven minutes per tain, a truly remarkable performance of which the Southern Railway may well be proud.