The Sun.
London, England, 1864-12-16 00:00:00

RAILWAY INTtLLIGENCE.

LONDON, CHATHAM, AND DOVER RAILWAY

COMPANY.

The position of the company having recently been the
subject of much misrepresentation, the beard think it in-
cumbent on them to afford some information to the pro.
prie'ors, without waiting until the general meeting at the
end of February. It will be satiefcctory to the proprietors
to know that the 32,0 0 shares constituting the third pre-
ference capital, bearing interest at" the rate of 6 per cent
have, with the exception of 1,610 shares, been surrendered
to the company by the holders for conversion into ordinary
stock, and arrangements have been made for the surrender
of these retraining shares also. The position of the ordinary
capital will thus bo improved by the rem3val of a pri!T
charge of 18000 per annum. The proprietors will also be
glad to know that by means of the capital authorised last
session for the. General Undertaking, Metropolitan Exten-
sion, and City Junction line, the amount due on acknow-
ledgments of debt called Lloyd's Bonds, issued pending the
placing of that capital, has been reduced to £115,936, for
the payment, of which at maturity provision has already
been made. The authorised capital of the company is in
the , judgment of the board sufficient to complete all the
company's works, including the junction with the
Metropolitan Railway, diecharge all their liabilities,
and leave a surplus to meet demands for addi-
tional rolling stock, arid siding accommodation for increased
traffic. An arrangement has been made with the South
Western Railway Company, subject to confirmation by
Parliament, by which the traffic of their whole system will,
on payment of adequate tolls, obtain access over the metro-
politan extension lines to Ludgate-hill station, and thence
over the City juoction line to the Metropolitan Railway at.
Earvingsrlon-atteets, crud—the GitrarlsTarthern and Midland
Railways at King's-cross. The arrangement also embraces
the provision of additional accommodation at Farringdon-
street for the South Western Railway Company, at their
cost, upon land already acquired by this company. The
directors are happy to announce that, subject to the appro-
val of the Government inspector, the Metropolitan Exten-
sion lines will be opened for traffic across the river to the
Ludgate-hill station on the 20th inst. The company's
through and suburban traffic will then, for the first time,
be admitted to a city station. The recent traffic receipts on
the Metropolitan Extension have been represented as dis-
couraging, and tending to preclude any hope of adequate
return on the capital expended. Such a representation is,
in the judgment of the board, without any foundation; and
it must be obvious to the proprietors that any opinion
formed on the basis of existing traffic must
be fallacious. The Metropolitan Extensions were
designed to convey passengers, goods, and Mine-
rals ;between the :Great INorthern, :Midland, :Great Wes-
tern, and Metropolitan Railways, the South of London, the
Kent Coast, the South of England, and the Continent.
Therefore, until the last most important link in this chain
i s completed, none of this vast traffic can be brought upon
the lines of the company. Moreover, the company have
now no station for City traffic, and up to this time have
only been able, as a temporary measure, to avail themselves
of Blackfriars for that purpose. This station, when com-
pleted will, from its position and capacity, be unequalled
for goods traffic, the primary object for which it was des
tined, but its situation on the south side of the river has no

been favourable to the full development of the passenger
traffic between the City and the stations on the line
already opened. In the course of next summer the junction
with the Metropolitan and Great Northern Railways will
be completed and opened, when the board believe that the
consequent growth of traffic and increase of receipts will
prove satisfactory. In the meantime they trust the pro-
prietors will not allow themselves to be misled or influenced
by opinions or statements based on imperfect information,
or emanating from hostile interests.—By order.
HARRIS, D ploy Chairman.
W. E. JOHNSON, Secretary.