The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1869-10-23 00:00:00

A PLAN FOR UNIVERSAL PENNY

RAILWAYS.
(From the Daily Telegraph.)
71e gni-W/1 whether advantage to railway corn.
panics and the utmost travelling accommodation to the
public cannot be combined has of late been much dis-
cussed. Papers have been read before scientific
societies, and pamphiets have been published, the bur-
then of which has been low fares and a uniform rate.
I he most decided scheme, perhaps of all is contained
in a pamph:et issued by Mr. G. W. Jones. which IN
designated " A plan of Universal Penny Railways
by the Applies,' ion of Turnpikes to Railways." "I his
it is affirmed, is a practical plan, suitable to the geniue
of the English people, or calculated to satisfy the
locomotive requirements of the country. The stashing.
point of the plan is the principle of secming the safe.
expeditious, pnuctuel, and cheap transit of passengers
and merchandise on railways with as near an approach
as may be to uniformity of charge and iquality of
treatment for all persons under similar circumstances.
It is stated, on the authority of the Royal Commis-
sioners who inquired into our Railway System, that,
while the first-class, longolistance passenger traffic is
probably better provided for in this country than any-
where else In the world, the working classes do not ob-
tains by the ordinary trains that benefit which a rail-
way is so well calculated hi afford. In the outset, then,
Mr, joneN.N plan professes hi remedy this defect ; and
AB essential 01.jeet is to make the railway the poor
man's highway.
It seems to be undeniable that, as at present ar-
ranged, the system is such as to cause a gieat wale
of space in every train. This may be illustrated bi
tile fact that on tie- selected days there arrived at
Eussou-square 4 :136 pa-owegera by trains in which
space was piovided for 13 333 passengers. This waste
of capability should be borne in mind when consider-
ing the scheme which Mr. Jones has propounded, alit
all the more because it is much utilized is the current
arguments against lowering fares. Third-class pas-
Bel geniis iimount to 62 11,2 Cell% of the Ile I elollS
travelling on English r ilway.s ; and the imp rt-
ance of their being taken more into account than they
are at present is, therefore, sufficiently obvious. Start.
log from this point, Mr. Jones proceeds to inquire
whether a considerable reduction in the charges to the
public by railways can be effected without cheapening
the means of conveyance at the expense of the nat.' al
exchequer. He asserts that this can be done "by
exacting a small toll from every passenger on entering
upon a railway, and at certain points as he passes over
it, the toll to vary acoording to the class by which he
selects to travel, and to provide him with the means of
conveyance otherwise free."
We should observe that Mr. Jones, though he be-
lieves his plan could be worked by the existing com-
panies as they stand, Ramillies that all the railways
will ere brig be acquired by the state. The leading
provisions of his plan, then, are as follows : All the
main lines running east, west, north, and south from
London shall be trunk lines ; and on each of them, at
the most convenient portion, and averaging about six-
teen miles apart, a turnpike or stop-station will be
eiected. Every passenger at starting will pay
lel, third clues, 31. second, and 61 first class ;
and for that payment he will be conveyed as
far as the first stop-station, alighting, if he
chooses, at any intermediate station on the trunk
line. If the traveller proceeds beyond the stoneatation,
he has to pay again the same toll, aceording to class,
and pursues his journey to the next ship-station, with
the right of leaving the train in the way; and
so on throughout the entire length d the trunk line.
At every branch from the trunk line where, in order
to proceed upon such branch line, a change of carriages
takes place, a fresh toll shall be paid, and the passen-
ger f Torn tnat point can proceed as far as the tiret
stop-station on such branch has ; here be pays
again, and so on um il he arrives at his journey's end.
I It is contended that, by this inetliud, much incoa-
venieuce, delay, and expen-h which now exist in the
printing, issuing, collecting, and assorting passenger
ticketa, and apportioning the fare of each passenger
between the various companies' lines over which he
travels, will be avoided. To facilitate this object, it is
proposed that to third-class passengers no tickets shall
be issued, but that, at every stopohation, they shall
pass through a registering turnstile and pay their
pennies, as at any toll-bridge. Vhis involves the
leaving of the train at each of these stations by
third-class passengers ; but the inconvenience is
treated as only trifling, while an advantage will
be derived from the fact that at every stop-station the
number of carriages required to carry the passengers
will be known, and no loss of space be incurred.
Second and first-class passengers will receive tickets as
at present to a stop-station, and not to the particular
station at which they may intend to leave the trains.
A condition will be affixed to the ticket ef the second-
class passenger that, if ri gulled to do no, he shall
change the sear be occupies, awl take .another in a
carriage better filled, with a view of avoiding the
expense of running Miff-filled or nearly empty car-

ria es.
Each pas-ienger, without distinction of class, will be
allowed to take free 561bs. of luggage; but all beyond
that must be paid for at the rate of a penny
per cwt., or portion of a cwt., for each stop-sta-
tion through which it will pass, The designa-
tion of " classes " is to be changed ; and they
will be known as " first," "middle,' and "
classes, the object being to remove any feeling of false
shame in travelling by the cheapest class.
A good deal of detail relating to the placing and
arrangement of stop-stations is given in Mr. Jones's
pamphlet in illmtration of his project; and it is sum-
med up in two tables which show tue number of stop-
stations, with the toll for each between Loudon and
Holyhead, and London and Edinburgh, by which it
appears that the whole charge to a third-class pas.
seoger from London and Hollyhead would be Is. 6d.; to
middle class, by ordinary trains, 45. 6d.; hi first class,
93.; and by fast trains, confined to middle and first
dal., OA. and 18s. rtispectiv, ly. FI,III London to
Edinburgh the charge tor third class will be Is. ilil;
for middle and first class, by ordinary trains, 5-. Oil.
and its. 6d; and by fast trains, lie. 6d. and 235. re-
spectively.
So much for the plan ; and the next question which
is dealt with is the all-important, the indispens3ble
one, Will it pay? Th., author of the scheme has un-
limited faith in the reproe-ictive powers ot the " penny."
He shows by financial statistics that, amongst other
things, coals are carried by railway companies at a
penny per ton per mile, with gonsiderable piofit.
The first principle on which he insists is strictly
economical, and it is that already noticed—make
the numbers of places in a train and of pas-
sengers co-incident ; by which means it is reckoned,
six times SA many passengers in point of numbers,
and twenty in point of weight might be conveyed
in the same number of carriages as at present, wiih
scarcely a perceptible increase f the co 4. Besides
this point, there are noisy additional things to take
into account. Excess luggage would be a large item,
and would greatly increase that return. Thies, given
the cost of conveying five hundred passengers at 2s. a
mile, we have Li 12s. for every sixteen miles ; which
would yield a profit from the tolls of 36 per cent., with-
out taking into account any toll from passengers to and
from those stations between the stop-stations, who
would pay the same toll or fare as for the whole

clietance. -
The proportion of the travelling classes would be
greatly altered. Few but the very poor would choose
to travel third class, and have to leave the train per-
haps tiventy.two times in a journey to Edinburgh,
when for 3s. 10d.ornore they could take athrough ticket
and not leave the carriage during the journey; while
most of those who could afford it would travel the
whole way by the fast trains, for which they would
pay double fares. This increase of profit Mr. Jone+
does not attempt to calculate, but leaves it as a myste-
rious unknown quantity to the imagination of those
who =alder the plan.