London's Traffic Problems.

London is essentially the great railway centre of Great Britain, and the traffic problem in this great modern Babylon has now reached an acute stage. It is not the main line traffic of the metropolis which occasions cause for concern, but rather movement within the city itself, and between the city and the surrounding suburbs, many of which have grown with tremendous rapidity since the Great War. London's principal transportation services are those of the main line railways, the tube and underground undertakings, the various motor omnibus carriers, and the street electric tramway services. To meet better the needs of London traffic, a proposal is now under review providing for the unification of transportation agencies within the metropolitan area, and the setting up of a single authority charged with the administration and operation of all the London railway, omnibus and tramway systems.

The four main line railways running into London are concerned with this scheme only so far as it affects their heavy suburban business. The attention which is now being devoted to this phase of railway working may quite well result in the early electrification of suburban routes in the London area. One of the electrification works likely to be commenced at an early date is the conversion to electricity of page 21 the steam-operated tracks of the L. and N.E. system out of the King's Cross terminal. The Liverpool Street suburban lines of the same railway may also be electrified in the course of the next few years. Another development that may be looked for is the extension further afield of the London electric underground and tube railways, and the construction of further underground routes in areas not already served by this form of traction.