The Sun.
London, England, 1852-01-05 00:00:00

THE SUN,

RAILWAY INTELLIGENCE.
RAILWAY TRAFFIC IN 1851.

It appears that the gross traffic receipts of railways
in the united kingdom for the year 1851 have been
very little short of 15,000,0001. on 6,928 miles of
railway, being at the rate of 2,1631. per mile per an-
num. The returns published weekly show that
14,567,9101. was received on the railways during the
past year on 6,537 miles, including about 200 miles
of canal, being an increase of 1,809,9254 in the re-
ceipts over the preceding year, on 6,257 miles of rail-
way, and also an increase of 280 miles in operation.
Independent of these railways, there are about twelve
new lines in operation of an aggregate length of 203
miles, the traffic returns on which are not published
weekly, but may be estimated at 169,400/. In addi-
tion to these there are ten other lines of an aggregate
length of 188 miles belonging to old railway com-
panies who do not publish their traffic returns ; but
it appears from the' half-yearly reports that the
gross receipts on these lines are about 250,0001.,
making together 419,4001. This sum, added to
the published weekly receipts, shows that the
gross traffic receipts on the above railways
during the past year amounted to 14,987,3101.
With regard to the traffic returns published weekly,
they show a progressive increase during the past ten
years. In the year 1842 they amounted to 4,341,7811. ;
in 1843, to 4,842,650 f. ; in 1844, to 5,610,9801.;
.in
1845, to 6,669,2301. ; in 1846, to 7,689,8701. ; in
1847, to 8,975,671/. ; in 1848, to 10,059,000/. ; in
1849, to 11,013,820/. ; in 1850, to 12 757,9851 ; and
in 1851, to 14,567,910/.. It will be observed that the
annual increase in the traffic has been very consider-
able during the past ten years, being on the average
above a million a year, or 10,226,1401. This increase
partly arises from the continual, development of the
traffic on the trunk lines, and partly from the addi-
tional receipts derived from the opening of new lines
and branches. The increase of traffic in the year
1843 over that of the preceding year amounted to
500,870/. ; in the year 1844, to 768,3371.; in 1845,
to 1,058,340/. ; in 1846, to 1,020,650/. ; in 1847, to
1,285,780/. ; in 1848, to 1,083,335/. ; in 1849, to
954,8101.; in-1850, to 1,744, 1681.; and in 1851 the
increase over the preceding year amounted to
1,809,9251. At the end of the year 1842 1,510 miles of
railway were open to the public ; during the next year
an additional length of 56 miles of new railway was
opened for traffic ; in 1844 a further length of 194
miles was opened ; in 1845, 263 miles ; in 1846, 593
miles ; in 1847, 839 miles ; in 1848, 975 miles; in
1849, 834 miles ; in 1850, 1,096 miles ; and in 1851,
the published returns show an additional mile of 280
miles ; but this is not an actual increase in the mile-
age opened during the year, for it includes the aggre-
gate length of some lines which were open for traffic
prior to 1851. The same observation will apply to
the increased mileage of 1849 and 1850 respectively
The aggregate length of new railway opened during
1850 in the United Kingdom was about 590 miles,
and in 1851 about 240 miles. This shows a falling
off in respect of the annual increase of mileage of new
lines, but the effect has been to increase the amount
of the average receipts per mile per annum ; and this
would be the case generally with all the large railway
companies, provided their capital accounts were closed,
the development of their traffic attended to, Parlia-
mentary warfare discontinued, and the making of new
branches and extensions avoided. So far as the traffic
is concerned, it does not appear that there can be-
much to complain of in respect of the aggregate
amount of it on railways since they have been esta-
blished; and, were it not for the adverse interests
operating at railway boards, the blunders of engi•
neers as to the cost of work, and laying out the lines
the letting of large contracts at exorbitant prices by
private agreement, excessive payments for land, the
continual litigation both in and out of Parliament,
and the unwarrantable expenditure on capital account
the traffic receipts would have been ample, after pay-
ing all necessary expenses, to pay a very fair divi-
dend on the outlay. The average traffic receipts per
mile show the effect of opening within a period of
four or five years so many miles of branch and com-
peting lines of railway. Daring the year 1842 the
gross traffic receipts averaged 3,1,131 per mile; in
1843, 3,083/ per mile; in 1844, 3,2781. per mile; in
1845, 3,4691. per mile; in 1846, 3,3051. per mile;
in 1847, 2,8704 per mile ; in 1848, 2,5561. per mile ;
in 1849, 2,3021 per mile ; in 1850, 2,2271. per mile ;
and in 1851; 2,2811. per mile. This shows a falling
off in the traffic per mile during the past five years of
about 30 per cent., but fortunately during the past
two years the receipts per mile were not much under
those of 1849, and at present the traffic per mile
shows an upward tendency. The reduction
in the receipts per mile would be a matter of
no great consequence, provided the average cost of
constructing the railways was proportionately re-
duced, say in the same ratio of the traffic per mile,
from 34,0001. to 23,0001. per mile, and so on in like
manner with every additional mile added to the sys-
tem. Unfortunately this is not the case, as the fol-
lowing will show :-In 1842 the cost of the railways
then in operation averaged 34,690/. per mile ; in 1843,
36,360/. ; in 1844, 35,6701. ; in 1845, 35,0701 ; in
1346, 31,860/. ; in 1847, 31,7001. ; in 1848, 34,234/. ;
in 1849, 35,214/. ; in 1850, 35,2294 ; and in 1851,
35,0581. A comparison of the average cost per mile
of 35,0701. when there were only 2,040 miles of these
railways open, with the average cost in 1851 of
35,0581., when there were 6,537 miles, shows that
scarcely any decrease in the cost per mile has taken
place, notwithstanding that 4,500 miles of additional
railways and branch railways have been constructed
at professedly less cost than the old railways. The
stationary position of the average cost pex mile
shows clearly that the continued additions to the
capital accounts of old and completed lines of
railway far outweigh all the professed advan-
tages of constructing thousands of new railways and
branches at considerably less cost than the average
expenditure per mile on the old trunk lines. Under
these circumstances it is not surprising that such
lines as the Liverpool and Manchester, which paid its
10 per cent. for 15 years, the Grand Junction, which
formerly paid from 10 to 12 per cent. per annum,
and the London and Birmingham about 9 per cent..
should now be reduced to 54 per cent. per annum,
the Lancashire and Yorkshire from 8 per cent. to 2
per cent. per annum, the South-Western from 8 per
cent. to 31 per cent., the Great Western from 8 per
cent. to 4 per cent. per annum, and other lines in pro-
portion. This state of things has chiefly arisen from
an enormous increase in the capitals of the companies,
for the alleged purpose of improving the position of
the several undertakings by the construction of nu-
merous branches and extensions to feed the parent
lines with traffic, to increase the income, and, conse-
quently, the dividend ; but it is needless to say that
in every instance of this kind the reverse has been the
case. The capital expended on the railways, of which
the traffic is published weekly, amounted in July,
1842, to 52,380,1001. ; in 1843, to 57,635,000/. ; in
1844, to 63,489,100/. ; in 1845, to 71,647,000/. ; in
1846, to 83,165,1004 ; in 1847, to 109,528,000/. ; in
1848, to 148,200,000/. ; in 1849, to 181,000,0001 ; in
1850, to 219,762,7001,; and in 1851, to 229,175,2301.
The expenditure on the new and old lines, the traffic
returns of which are not published weekly, amounts
190/ , making with the 229,175,2301.,
at0t0atba01u0tf72,6366,6,841, 4201, expended on 6,928 miles of
railway ; being at the rate of 34,1861. per mile. The
gross traffic returns per cent. on the capital
expended
_lB6to'
amounted in 1842 to 829 per cent.;
La 1843, to 8.42 per cent.; in 1844, to B'B4
per cent.. in 1845, to 930 per cent.; in
per cent. ; in 1849, to 6.13 per cent.;
9t0.26.5.7p8er cent.; in 1847, to 820 per cent.;
in 1848,
in
workingl 85 0,
to
cent. Deducting
g from this amount 45 per cent. for
exeBnOsl/4_ e r cent.; and
3i would leave for the past year a
dividend of 3
Per cent. on the whole of the capital
expended.

and servants of this.c
GREAT WESTERN
Swindon station AA a meeting of the officers
csir'llemy, held last week at the
tendent, in the chair),
clerks, and servants
pany, 'had united in subscril:iinn
in Zia aided that 1,900 officers,
Oreooh, locomotive superin-
of obtaining a full-length portlenLl
employment of the com-
pany, the purpose
the chairman of the company, ntoof
board-room of the Paddington station,
be placed in the
of their grateful esteem for
honour, impartiality, and undeviating kindness
C. Russell,
the ~es a testimonial
had ever displayed towards themprinciples of
, and
also
he
their sense of the of the eminent services 8:
him to the company over which he h to record
as so" longlered by
efficiently presided. Resolutions were passed and
pointing a committee to carry out the object of ad;
meeting, and nominating Mr. T. M. Ward as hoe.
secretary to the subscribers.
Pews AND ROUEN.—At the half-yearly meeting of
this company, to be held at Paris on the 27th instant,
the proprietors will have to consider the propriety of
contributing towards the construction of the Junction
Circular Railway round Paris, to join the Western,
the Paris and Rouen, the Rouen and Havre, the
Northern, the Paris and Strasburg, the Paris and
Lyons, and the :Paris and Orleans Railways. Also,
to authorise an agreement with the Western Railway
Company, relating to the working of that line, and
of consenting to a supplemental guarantee of interest
on the money to be expended by the Western Com-
pany, provided the undertaking be approved of by the
Government.

NoaTu-WESTERN.--It is stated that the directors
of this company, generally known as the Little North-
Western, have made a working agreement with the
Midi.lnd Company for 21 years—the latter company
to pay the North- Western Company 50 per cent. of
the gross receipts up to 52,000/. a year, and 66 per
cent. of all the traffic above that amount, and guran-
teeing the payment of the interest on the debenture
debt end preferential stock. This, it appears, has
been done without consulting the shareholders, among
whom it has roduced great dissatisfaction. The
capital expended on the line amounts to 964,000/., and
the receipts for the past year to 34,200/. The work-
&c., during the first half of the year
ing expenses,