While long-distance travel is being improved immeasurably in Britain, a great deal of attention also is being devoted to the betterment of branchline working. The operation of branch lines at Home is becoming less and less profitable as the road motor business expands, and in a recent letter to the London “Times,” Sir Ralph Wedgwood, chief general manager of the London and North Eastern Railway, remarked that the continued existence of many branch lines is solely due to their contributory value as feeders of the main traffic routes. During recent months the London and North Eastern Railway has accelerated the timings of no fewer than 800 branch line trains and the possibility of further speeding up is constantly under review. In arranging branch line acclerations, page 19 a great many difficulties arise. The timings must be so arranged as to afford punctual running throughout the week, although on slack days the train service may actually be in excess of the real needs. It is undesirable to make small alterations between one season of the year and another, for these cause annoyance to the travelling public, while margins must be allowed for station duties, the shunting of horse-boxes and cattle vans, and so on. In recent months a great deal has been done by the Home railways to improve branch line working by the introduction of steam and petrol rail motor cars, and this feature of branch-line operation is also conspicuous in almost every corner of the world.