The frank discussion by the representatives of the Home railway managements and employees, of the economic position of the railway industry, has been hailed by all sections of the British Press as a great victory for co-operation. In his present contribution, our Special London Correspondent refers to this and other recent railway developments in Britain and on the Continent.

Slackness of trade and the ever-growing competition of the road carriers has had the most serious effect on Home railway revenues in recent months. For the past half-year the most modest of dividends was paid shareholders, and on every hand the need for economy in the British railway world is clearly apparent.

To meet the needs of the present difficult situation, a most helpful agreement has been reached between the Home railway managements and employees of every grade. In order to reduce expenses and tide the railways over the present trying period, the railway unions, acting on behalf of the men, have agreed to a wages cut of two-and-a-half per cent., this cut to be applicable to all within the service from the highest to the lowest rank of employee. The settlement was not reached without much discussion, as might be imagined, but immediately the issue became clear the men's representatives at once agreed as to the wisdom of the wages cut, and the whole business is a triumph for common-sense and co-operation.

The immediate consequence of the wages cut will be to effect an annual saving in the wages bill of approximately £2,500,000, a sum which should materially assist in lightening the heavy burdens which the Home railways are at present called upon to bear. For the first six months of the present year, the largest of the Home railways—the London, Midland & Scottish—suffered a decline in net revenue of more than £1,000,000, as compared with the corresponding half-year of 1927. Equally serious decreases were recorded in the case of the three other large systems. Against these losses must be set off considerable operating economies effected through cheaper coal and more scientific working methods.

A Great Industry.

The British railways are by far the largest single industry in the land. In 1927 there were made over the various systems some 1,650,000,000 passenger journeys. Freight business totalled 325,000,000 tons, of which coal amounted to 199,000,000 tons. In a single year the British railways consume 206,000 tons of steel rails, 4,000,000 creosoted sleepers, and 500 miles of line-side fencing. Their equipment includes 24,000 locomotives, 94 rail motor cars, 51,656 steam passenger cars and 4,575 passenger cars for electric service, giving, in all, seats for 2,792,726 passengers. Goods wagons total 718,249, with a total capacity of 7,721,269 tons.

Scope for Economy.

In an industry of this magnitude there is naturally big scope for the exercise of sensible economy in the use of stores, stationery, and so on. In order to direct the attention of its staff to this subject, the L & N.E. Railway has just issued to its employees a thought-compelling pamphlet which remarks that the L. & N.E. line annually spends some £12,000,000 on materials and stores. In this page 43 pamphlet the General Manager, Sir Ralph Wedgwood, states: “We want a united and determined effort. I ask each member of the staff—from the oldest to the youngest—to help in the effort. ‘Safety First’ is a good rule, but it is incomplete without the addition ‘Economy Next.’ Attention to details such as sponge cloths and stationery is not exciting, but it is more exciting than wasting them. Economy in stores is the most effective way of cutting down expenses and by far the most satisfactory. It is an essential step on the road of recovery which lies before us.”

Travel Concessions.

Although the Home railways are straining every nerve to effect economies, it should not be thought that they are adopting anything approaching a cheese-paring policy. The four big group systems are spending vast sums on improving their way and works, and in introducing new and improved services to meet public needs. To cover the new situation which has arisen out of the phenomenal development of passenger travel by road, the Home railways have introduced cuts in passenger fares amounting in some cases to as much as fifty per cent. More liberality also is being allowed travellers in respect of week-end bookings, and other reduced fares, these concessions giving a wider range of facilities for travel than have ever before been offered in Britain. As illustrating the cheap travel now available, the Great Western Railway are running express excursion trains from Paddington Station, London, to Plymouth and return (226 ½ miles each way), for 11s. 6d. return, or at the rate of nearly four miles a penny. Fares such as these are much lower than those offered by even the most enterprising of road carriers, and the reduced rail fares now in operation, coupled with the higher degree of safety and comfort assured the rail traveller, should go far to bring back to the “Iron Way” much business which has recently gone to the road.

Safe, Smooth Running.

Regarding the safety enjoyed by the rail traveller little need be said. Compared with the highways, railways in Britain stand out as a wonderfully safe form of movement. On the point of comfort, the advantage enjoyed by the railway traveller in the short-distance business is not quite so apparent, but for long-distance movement the railway stands supreme in the matter of comfort. No road carrier can offer sleeping and restaurant car accommodation, for example, on the lines of that provided for the rail traveller, while for smooth running the long-distance expresses of Britain are far-famed. In this connection, it may be noted that a traveller on the L. & N.E. Railway from King's Cross to Edinburgh and back recently remarked in a letter to

A Great Terminal Station.
Southern Railway Continental Terminal, Victoria, London.

page 44 the London “Times” that, prior to leaving London he placed a penny on the footboard outside the carriage door. The penny arrived at Edinburgh without moving an inch. On the return journey the coin was placed in the same position on leaving the Scottish capital, and it returned safely to King's Cross. This, the writer suggested, spoke very highly of the smooth running of British long-distance express trains.

Rail and Road Problems.

Rail and road co-ordination is bound to come in time, and here at Home the railways are giving very serious thought to possibilities of this kind. Every effort is being made to work in friendly harmony with existing road carrying concerns, and to fit in rail services as far as possible with the services offered by the established road carriers. In many districts the railways are shortly to put on the roads large fleets of road motors of their own. Parliamentary sanction to this procedure has recently been given. One of the greatest difficulties at the moment is the fact that road transport activities are being engaged in all over the country by a multitude of owner-drivers and “one-man” concerns who are most difficult to approach on the subject of co-operation, and who care little for a national road policy and the interests of the public and the carriers at large so long as they can make a living out of their vehicles. By degrees the whole problem of road transport and its relation to rail transport will be put on a proper footing, but for the time being the situation bristles with perplexities for the railways and their traffic officers.

Standardisation of Equipment.

When the grouping scheme was launched in Britain, one of the greatest advantages which was claimed for such a plan was the benefits which might be secured from the standardisation of plant and equipment. In the time which has elapsed since the coming of the new order of things, a great deal has been done by each of the four consolidated systems in the direction of eradicating superfluous items of equipment, and concentrating on standard lines. Considerable reductions have been effected in the number of locomotive types in service, and through the activities of the British Engineering Standards Association, a vast amount of useful work has been performed in arriving at the most suitable types of material for permanent way use. On the London & North-Eastern Line's Southern Area (comprising what were formerly the Great Central, Great Eastern and Great Northern systems), there were some eighteen types of rail employed prior to amalgamation. Now two types only have been agreed upon as standard for the whole group, and valuable savings will thereby accrue not only in regard to the supply of rails themselves, but also in respect of the various accessories utilsed in permanent way construction and maintenance.

Third-class Sleepers.

For many years sleeping cars have been placed at the disposal of the first-class traveller in Britain. This year the L.M. & S., L. & N.E., and G.W. lines are introducing third-class sleepers into their longdistance night services. The new cars will differ from the first-class sleepers. The latter vehicles are used exclusively for night travel, but the third-class cars now being put into traffic will take the form of day passenger cars, with seven compartments, having hinged backs on either side so as to form upper berths by night. Four berths will thus be provided in each compartment, viz., two lower berths by the use of the ordinary seats, and two upper berths formed out of the hinged compartment walls. Throughout Europe the tendency is now to provide increased comfort for the thirdclass traveller, and it is not unlikely that very soon the present distinction as between first and third-class accommodation will disappear, and in

On the Continent.
A third-class Sleeping Car on the German State Railways.

page 45 its place a system be adopted of charging somewhat higher fares for the use of Pullman and Limited train accommodation, on similar lines to the practice followed in the United States of America. In Germany third-class sleepers, introduced some time ago, are meeting a long-felt want, and other Continental lands are contemplating the introduction of the third-class sleeping-car.

On the German railways four classes of passenger carriage are available, and for some time the question of a reduction in this number of classes has been under consideration. Now a decision has been come to which provides for the abolition of the existing four classes, and the setting up of two classes only in their place—a first and second. The German railways anticipate that this move will be much appreciated by the public. It will also be advantageous to those charged with station working, and will permit of a better utilisation of passenger stock. The construction of carriages will also be simplified, and the work of maintenance made easier.

French Electrification Schemes.

The French railways have for long been busy on electrification schemes of one kind and another and during recent times there has been great activity on the Government Railways in connection with the conversion from steam to electricity of the network of lines in the Paris area. The most important route tackled is that from Paris (St. Lazare) to St. Germain, and the recently completed electrification of this line will solve very materially the perplexing problems faced by the State Railways in handling the dense passenger traffic of the Paris neighbourhood.

The Paris-St. Germain route was opened in 1847 and is one of the oldest railways in France. From the capital to St. Germain is a distance of 13 miles, and the station of St. Germain is located at the top of a rising grade 1 ¼ miles long of 3.5 per cent. Two power stations supply current for the electrification, current being three-phase, 15,750 volts. Underground cables conduct the current to the line-side sub-stations, where it is converted to direct current at 750 volts for feeding the collector rail. Trains formed of motor and trailer-cars are operated on the multiple unit system, the carriages being of all-steel construction. Each motor car has four 165 h.p. motors, and weighs, when empty, 56 ½ tons. By dividing the Paris-St. Germain route into three distinct traffic zones, much easier operation has been secured. The first zone embraces stations in close proximity to the capital, these stations having a separate train service of their own. The second zone embraces stations outside the first zone up to about nine miles from Paris, and these are served by trains not stopping at points within the first zone. Outside the first and second zones is a third division, served by trains which do not stop at points in either the first or second zones. Passengers travelling from intermediate points to stations in another traffic zone, change trains at the zone terminal station, and special lay-out has been introduced to facilitate the transfer of passengers from train to train at these interchange points.

Locomotive Erecting Shop of the L. and N.E. Railway, Stratford, London.