Economy in Unification.

By more than one leader in the field of transportation has the view been ex

A TYPICAL LONDON PASSENGER STATION.
St. Pancras Terminal, L.M.S. Railway, the former London Terminus of the Midland Railway.

pressed of late that, eventually, the four big consolidated railways of Britain will be united to form one comprehensive transportation undertaking serving the whole of the country with its rail, road, steamship and aeroplane services. The time may be somewhat distant before this move is actually tackled, but there would seem every reason for the belief that unification would produce substantial economies in operation, staff, and other directions. Waste and redundancy of effort would be nullified; and provided political interference was not permitted and the railways were operated on strictly commercial lines, it should be possible to build up a sound and profitable undertaking covering the whole of Britain with its co-ordinated rail, road, water and air services.

At present there is contemplated the setting up of a single transportation undertaking in the London area, to take the place of the existing individual rail and road carriers; and there is really no logical argument against the fusion of the whole of the four group railways of Britain to form one big consolidation. The existing group railways of the Homeland each possess a mileage on a par with the New Zealand Government Railways, and while on combination the resulting system would be a large one, it would not be too unwieldy bearing in mind the experience in lands like Germany and the United States. Everyone connected with the Home railways would, in many ways, be sorry to see the passing of the existing group systems, just as there was general regret at the disappearance of the smaller individual lines swallowed up by the introduction of consolidation ten years ago. All things considered, however, it would certainly seem that unification of the four Home group railways is inevitable sooner or later.