The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1871-09-23 00:00:00

RAILWAY AMALGAMATION.

Sir Edward Watkin's sugkestion at the Sheffield
Railway meeting last Friday will commend itself, we
think, both to the pul die and the slnu-eled&rs (remarks
the seer Ist.) He suggests that the various railways
throughout the country Hhoula in effect conduct their
business as one company, dividing the traffic where
there are competing routes, granting through booking
from any railway station to every other station in the
kingdom, with return tickets available by all ream
and laving working expenses by unity ‘)f management.
It is easy to see how the public would gain by such
an arrangement. With all the lines treated as a single
concern the facility of communications would be mul-
tiplied, and, especially in the metropolis, passengers
would have a selection of stations at which to arrive and
depart, which would be beyond measure convenient-
To mention only the Smith-Eastern and Brighton lines,
it would be an obvious convenience for the travelling
public if euurrre of the Brighton trains ran into Cannon-
street and ( karing-cross, while the South-Eastern pas-
sengers would equally benefit by. similar access to
Victoria. The arrangement of trams could in fact be
made the most convenient possible for the public with-
out reference to the wish of particular companies to
keep traffic for themselves.,
-

Another advantage would be, as regards London at
least, that where there are double or treble lines to
suburban places or coast towns, the trains might be so
timed that inAcml of three or four starting all but
simultaneously at certain hours, going by different
routes, there would be trains at short intervals at par-
ticular hours of the day. The communication with
Brighton especially could be made such that business
men might easily be saved the hurry and flurry of
special and express trains to take them to and from
business. It would wit take very long, the company
may be assured, till such facilities, especially if accom-
panied by a judicious lowering of fares, would enor-
mously increase business, the shareholders as well as

the pufilic being tits ners.. How working expenses
would be sami needs no exiiianation.
We fear, however, that Sir Edward Watkiii old
hardly be prepared for the logo-al result oT his sugg
lt 4-
tion—e adoption of the railways by the State Still
it Is plain that this is whrot his suggestion points to.
Thi, single amalgamated railway cowlany would, in
fact, be a State department ; their business would dc
managed bY officials almost as powerful and .lignified
as I 'abinet Ministers, and subject to the same pressure
of public opinion al criticism ; they would be so im-
portant a confederacy that the State, with natural
jealousy, could not but seek to control it. The result
would be one which we should wit deprecate, and we
see in the suggestion one of the best proofs that tic;
State nutnagement lif railways is far from being a
dream. One of the shrewdest of our " railway kings"
propises, as the best means of working our railways
profitably, the nearest approximation to a universal
State management which could have been devised.
Following very closely upin Sir E. Watkin's speech,
as above, has come the announcement it the conalusitin
of a " joint-purse agreement" between the London ,
and North-Western and Lancashire and Yorkshire
companies. The details if the arrangements are pi s•
bably not yet fully settled, while the sanction of the
shareholders f both companies will have to be given ;
but we may congratulate Ho, shareholders of both com-
panies, and the districts ti be effectcil, its well as the
country generally, on the prospect. The anangenient
will, in fact, be a great step towards the scheme of a
general amalgamation which Sir Edwin Watkin lam
broached. The North-Western is the leading line in
the country, with a capital of Vi 14,414,000 and a mile-
age of 1,509 miles ; and the Lancashire and Yorkshire
is among the next in rank. with a capital of 1723,792,000
and a nuleage of 428 i miles. The aggregate capital of
the two companies will thus be about 1:s0,000,01k1--•
about a seventh of the railway capital it the United
Kingdom, and in reality it will be more if we include
the capital of the leased lines. The aggregate annual
• receipts of the two oompanies are at present upwards
of £10,000,000. or nearly a fourth id the aggregate rail-
way butane.s of the country. We shall thus have a
single company possessing this large share of the rail-
way business of the country, and one or two amalga-
mations on a larger scale would speedily place the
whole undertaking of this clam virtually under one
management.
It is already one of the greatest securities of railway
property that now et aupetition is practically imjsaaible,
while there is little temptation to mutual competition
on account of the magnitude of the business. Now
that the advantage of the arrangement to the share-
holders of lsith oompanies is perceived, we should anti-
cipate that their examples will be followed. The cow
sopience, however, will be that the existing companies
being formed into a vast monopoly, the usual prin-
ciples of dealing with monopolies will be applied by
Parliament anil lubhicil,iiiiiis. When ten per rent.
dividends arena prospect and railway shareholders have
secure I the utmost economy in working their monopoly,
the public will clearly be entitled to participate in the
advantages in every way—in lowered fares and rates as
well as additional accommodation. The advantage of
the situation will be that the united companies will be
able to try experiments which single companies could
wit venture upon, awl that they may concede much to
the public, for the sake of future gain, without any
serious risk of appreciable temporary loss.