New Maritime Station at Calais.

In the movement of passengers and freight between Britain and France, the Port of Calais has always been a main gateway. Readers of that masterpiece by Dumas, “The Three Musketeers,” will recall the wild dash from Paris to Calais which forms a feature of the story. Since those days, express trains and fast steamships have taken the place of the slower means of movement of D'Artigan's age, but Calais remains the principal northern entrance into France. At this busy port the French National Railways have opened this year a magnificent new Maritime Railway Station, which promises to aid enormously in the development of cross-Channel traffic. Work on the new terminus commenced in 1930, and among improvements effected are the widening and lengthening to 1,640 feet of the quay platform; the extension of the main passenger building; and the enlargement of the Customs hall. New and larger waiting rooms and offices have been installed, and passengers passing between ship and train are now completely protected from the weather. Five level crossings have also been replaced by bridges. The Port of Calais is one of the handiest of French gateways from the navigation viewpoint, and is famed for its facility for handling vessels during foggy weather. Something like 500,000 British travellers pass through Calais every year, and in co-operation with the Southern Railway of England, the French National Railways operate via Calais and Dover the shortest and quickest route between Paris and London, this being the well-known “Golden Arrow” daily daylight service.