Rail, Road and Airways.

On the Home railways, Pullman travel has been exploited to a considerable degree, notably by the London and North-Eastern line. On this railway Pullman connection between London and the North has for long been a popular feature of the passenger time-table, and this year additional convenience has been afforded travellers by the running of Pullman trains to and from the North to synchronise with the Southern Company's Pullman boat train services between London and the cross-Channel ports, connection by luxurious motor cars being given between King's Cross terminal and the Southern Company's London stations. Recently twenty-nine new all-steel Pullmans have been acquired by the L. and N. E. Railway for service in the “Queen of Scots” daily trains between London and Edinburgh. These cars are 65 1/2 feet long overall and represent the last word in travel comfort.

The announcement of the introduction of a combined rail and air service across the United States for passenger conveyance marks a new era in the history of travel, and is of real significance as being the first genuine attempt at rail-air co-ordination on a big scale. The new joint service operates between New York and Los Angeles, and the railways interested are the Pennsylvania system and the Santa Fe. The idea is for passengers to make the daylight portion of the journey by air, and the night portion by rail, and altogether the arrangement should be of real worth alike to the public and the carriers.

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In Europe the Scandinavian railways have for some time advertised through bookings for both passengers and merchandise by rail-air route, and recently the Swiss Government railways have concluded and agreement with a leading firm of air carriers providing for the through movement of freight by rail and air on a single bill of lading. At the outset the arrangement applies to merchandise despatched from Swiss stations and addressed to foreign air-ports, or vice-versa, and to goods passing through Switzerland in transit. Traffic sent to or from the foreign air-ports is conveyed by rail from or to the Swiss air-ports at Basle, Geneva and Zurich, and it is probable that this latest plan of the Swiss Government Railways will from the embroyo out of which will spring an all-embracing system of international rail air services covering the whole of Europe.