The Sun.
London, England, 1864-01-23 00:00:00

RAILWAY INTELLIGENCE.

LONDON, BRIGHTON, AND SOUTH COAST.
The report of the directors to the meeting on the 29th
inst. has been published. The amount of capital raised on
the 31st December, 1863, is £11,708,974, consisting of—

Ordinary stock and shares, £4,885,629 ; preferential stock,
£3,991,911; mortgage debt, X 1,577,375 ; debenture stock,
p
£1,254,059 ; total, £11,708,974. The amount of capital ex-
ended during the half-year is £625,58, of which full par-
ticulars appear in the capital account annexed. The issue
of debenture stock continues, and the reduction of interest
on the mortgage debt has reached a point which leaves the
whole of the loan capital bearing a rate of interest which

scarcely exceeds 4 per cent. The gross revenue has been
£537,160, showing a diminution of £13,401, when compared
with the corresponding half-year. The directors, in an-
nouncing so large a reduction, cannot forget that it was
hardly unexpected, inasmuch as the comparison is with the
exceptional period of the International Exhibition of 1862.
Besides this, it is to be attributed to a considerable extent
to the great reduction of fares which took place on the Ist
of August last, whilst, considering the short period during
which it has been in force, that reduction could not be com-
pensated for by the augmentation which experience proves
to have always followed diminution of charges, and of
which the realisation must not be expected until time has
been given to produce this unfailing result. The directors,
however, remain of opinion that the policy which they
adopted will ultimately be productive of benefit to the com •
pany, and secure its prosperity, and they consider that at no
time has the undertaking been in a more sound and
satisfactory state as regards its territorial position. They
trust, therefore, that the proprietors will share their con-
viction that the present reduction of dividend need not
cause uneasiness, inasmuch:as the object of the course pur-
sued will undoubtedly be realised, and the permanent in-
terests of the company thereby promoted and secured. The
balance available for dividend is also much diminished by a
further heavy debit for compensations in respect of accidents
not occurring during the past half-year, the total sum thus
taken from the revenue of the company during 1863 being
£21,632. This account is now virtually closed, and the
directors sincerely trust that such claims may in future be
averted, and that some steps will be taken in the legislature
to relieve railway companies from heavy and unjust exac•
tions. In the case of this company, no expense has been
spared to maintain the line, the plant, and the staff, in a
state of the highest efficiency, and the accidents which led
to this serious loss arose from the necessity of depending
upon human agency, and were such that no skill in the
management nor any selection of materials the workmanship
could have averted. Notwithstanding the loss of revenue as
compared with the period of the Exhibition of 1862, the
number of passengers has increased, forming the best proof
that the reduction of tares and the extension of the company's
suburban system have already partially realised the antici-
pated benefits. The season tickets ht,ve largely increased in
number since the reduction of charges in January last,
producing an actual increase in receipts of £6,117. The
working expenses are somewhat heavier in consequence of
the additional miles worked, and the opening of the Pul-
borough and Ford, and the Croydon and Balham lines.
No sum having been placed last half-year to the credit
of the permanent way improvement account, the annual
charge of £7,000 is now debited to revenue. It must also
be borne in mind, that as compared with the corresponding
half•year of 1862, interest on additional capital, amount-
ing to £642,360, is charged to revenue. On the whole
the amount of expenditure is satisfactory, and is not
increased in proportion to the work performed. The
line from Pulborough to Ford was opened on the Ist
of August, and the Littlehampton branch on the 17th of
the same month. The former affords the anticipated
facilities for the separation of the Brighton from the
coast traffic, and the service between London and the
western portion of the coast lines. Steamers are already
running between Littlehampton and the Channel Islands,
and a communication with other ports may shortly be
expected. The directors have made the necessary appli-
cation to Parliament for the extension of the company's
steamboat powers to Littlehampton, so that they may pos-
sess them in case of necessity, as they anticipate a conside-
rable traffic hereafter between that harbour and the oppo-
site coast of Normandy, to which it is the nearest port. The
Newhaven and Dieppe steamboat service is progressing
satisfacto'rily, and a fair augmentation of revenue may be
reasonably expected from that source. The works on the
South London line are making rapid progress, and by the
end of the year 1861 it may be hoped that these, as well as
the widening of the Greenwich viaduct, and the necessary
enlargement of the London-bridge station, will be ready for
traffic. There being so many projects before Parliament
in the present session to accomplish similar objects, the
directors desire to call the attention of their shareholders to
the fact that at an early period they will be prepared to
afford accommodation the want of which appears to be so
much folt ; and they are of opinion that amongst the pro-
posed metropolitan railway schemes, the South London line
may be regarded as offering to the public in the suburbs of
London the greatest possible amount of facility and accom-
modation ; they, therefore, feel justified in looking forward
to a largo revenue from this new source, and to a most
favourable result from the construction of this important
metropolitan line. In accordance with the terms of the last
report, which received the sanction of the proprietors, the
directors hare taken the necessary steps to obtain powers
from Parliament for the construction of such branches as
will afford the necessary accommodation to East Sussex,
and to the Eastern part of Brighton. Bills have also been
introduced to enable the company to complete the northern
link of the Streatham, Mitcham, and Sutton lino of
last year; to carry out the arrangements concluded with
the London, Chatham, and Dover Railway Company as re-
gards the access to Victoria Station ; to extend the New
Croydon line into the town of Croydon, and for other
minor matters. Powers had been included in the company's
notices for an improved connexion between the Balham
line and Victoria Station, but the owners and occupiers of
property at Clapham•common having strongly objected to
the scheme, it will bo withdrawn. The net amount of the
credit of the revenue account is £132,904, out of which the
directors recommend the payment of a dividend of 21 per
cent. for the half-year, payable on the 12th of February,
amounting to £122,107, leaving a balance to the credit of the
current half-year of £10,707.

TRAFFIC RECEIPTS FOR THE WEEK.
Miles Opened. iZeoeipts.-,

Railways.

Belfast and N, Counties 136
Belfast and County Down 49
Blyth and Tyne 2B
Bristol and Exeter l2l.
Caledonian
Cockermouth & Workington &
Cork and Bandon 2O
Cork, Blackrock, &Passage 6l
,ghr" ,i

Cork and Youghal
.... 34
Cornwall 6sk

Deeside l7
Dublin & Belt ast Junction 63
Dublin and Drogheda 75
Dublin and Meath
Dub. & Wicklow and Wextd 9ll
Edinburgh and Crlasgow 1691
Furness, &c 5O
Glasgow & South-Western
Gt. Eastern,Nrik.,&E.Union
Great Northern 353
Great North of Scotland 5B
ot. Nortlin. & Westn. (Irel.) 7ll
Gt.Soutlin. & Westn.(Ltind.) 3731
Great Western 10561
Inverness & Aberdeen Junc S6I
Inverness & Perth Junction 1191
Irish North-Western 145
Lancashire & Yorkshire 402
Limerick and Ennis... 241
Limerick and Foynes 264
Llanelly 461
London & North-Western
London and Blackwall 5l
London ,S 6 South-Western
Lond. Brighton, &S. Coast
London, Chatham, & Dover 721
Do. Metropolitan Extension 10
Lond., Tilbury, & Southend
Man.,Sheffield, & Lineolnsh
Manch. S.Jun.& Altrincham.. 91
28
Maryport and Carlisle
Metropolitan
641
Midland cincl. N.-Western)..
Midland G t.Westn. of Irind.. • 251
Monkland 7l
Monmoutlish. Hail. & Canal 44
North British, Edin., Perth
and Dundee
N-Eastern and Stock. & Darl 1095
North London
2
North Staffordshire 54
Oswestry and Newton...... • • 5°
Rhymney l9l
St. Helen's Canal & Railway. • 52
Scottish Central
138
Scottish North-Eastern ..... .
Somerset and Dorset 66
South Devon
••• 06
3
South-Eastern ..•
Taff Vale 57
Ulster
.. in

Vale of Clwyd. . . 10
Vale of Neath 32
Waterford and Kilkenny
Waterford and Limerick
West Cornwall 27i
W.Hartlepoolllarbr.&llaiL . • 52
W'havcn,Cleator,& Egrmnt.•
Whitchaven Junction l3
Whitehavo & Furness Jun 35
FOREIGN AND COLONIAL.
Antwerp and Rotterdam 52
Austrian B2B
Belgian Eastern Junction.. • • 204
Bombay, Baroda, & Cen. India IS5i
Buffalo and Lake Iluron
Detroit and Milwaukic lBO
I),:±ch Eltenish
La,stern BeenLgal
Eastsrn of :rime° ..... 1135
East Indian ....
~ 9331
Grand Trunk of CP.1;,,,a lOOO
Great Indian l'enins;2ll
3
Great Luxembourg . ..... 134
Great Southern of India ...
treat Western of Canada.... ":,"

Madras. - 41- . '
Madrid, SaragOSSß ScAlicant, 650
Northern of Canada ... Ol
Northern of France 697
Norwegian Trunk
_ 4B}

Ottoman
Paris, Lyons, & Mediterrn ISOS
Paris and Orleans ...........
Pernambuco 69
77e
Royal Danish
Sambre and Meuse ..........
South Austrian
..iiouthcrn of France ....... :..
1741 E
Victorian
25
Welland
75

West Flanders ..............
W. and N.W. of Franco . ..... 932

234 i

48
169#

329
10:32

1179,

2391
28

6'.0
259}
71}

4101
10792

11,860 11,006
48,517 45,391
2,965 3,097
7,875 7,545
1,008 804
880 820
2,167 1,014
4,578 4,276
5,000 4,772
501 284
2.086 2,866
17,753 17,208
5,589 4,727
2,479 2,103

138
39}
75i
306

155
2,312

398
1,300

661
3,363

614
3,061

62 1,121
828 22,743
2,17 301
107 k 2,031
1611 2,300
185 4,010
1061 3,951

095
21,315
263

,377
3,2 P)
3,535

1302 48,335
641} 10,403
1000 19,121
405 10,8 1
134 3,387
79 528
3,6 10,330
447 4,985
400
91 1,058
69? 17,413
44_

48,009
8,969
19,501
7,4;33
3,579

-51 S
10,662
3,3 n

(84
48,559

48i
1713 91,142
140 56,757
708
- _

104,420
51,466

69 938
68 1,318
1315 66,068
680 22,396
151
25

1,350
75,186
20,81)

953 925
37,661 65,010