Suburban Electrification.

One of the earliest electrification works on the Home railways was the conversion of the North Tyne-side tracks of the L. & N. E. Railway from steam to electric traction. This electrification—covering the Newcastle to North Shields double-track route—dates back to pre-war days. With the growth of suburban passenger business on Tyne-side, the L. & N. E. Company is now putting in hand the electrification of further routes in this important area, notably the eleven mile section between Newcastle and South Shields. This line carries five million passengers a year, and the existing steam service gives one train in each direction every twenty minutes, with an overall journey time of 33 or 34 minutes. Under electric working, the train service will be augmented, and the journey time cut to 27 minutes. To secure all the advantages of interchangeability of rolling-stock with the electric lines on the north bank of the Tyne, the third-rail system of electrification is being adopted, with a voltage of 660 at sub-stations.

The scheme as a whole involves the placing of contracts for 64 articulated two-coach motor-trailer units, two double bogie motor coaches, and one double bogie motor van, or 131 vehicles in all. At the same time, 36 existing vehicles are being re-equipped electrically, and 90 coaches constructed between 1903 and 1915 are being scrapped. The new cars will be of steel construction, of the saloon pattern, with sliding doors at each end and bucket seats. The whole scheme, including modernisation of the North Tyne-side, lines rolling-stock, is estimated to cost approximately £00,000.