The Sun.
London, England, 1863-11-16 00:00:00

RAILWAY INTELLIGENCE,

MADRAS.

The half-yearly meeting of this company was held on
Friday at the London Tavern ; Lieut.-General D. Sim in
the chair.

The report, an abstract of which has appeared in The
Sun, was taken as read.

The CHAIRMAN, in moving the adoption of the report,
said the railway consisted of two separate lines—namely, the
South-West and North- West lines. The South-West line
commenced at Madras, on the east coast, and crossing the
peninsula by the towns of Arcot, Vellore, Salem, and Coim-
batore, terminated at Beypoor, on the Malabar, or west
coast. The trunk line from Madras to Beypoor was 406
miles in length; it commenced into 1852, and opened for
traffic in May, 1862. In addition to the trunk line there
was a branch to Bangalore, 84 miles in length, making the
total length 490 miles. About three-fourths of the decayed
wooden sleepers between Madras and Godavery river, a dis-
tance of 245 miles, had been replaced by iron sleepers,which
had increased their expenses ; but those expenses would be
compensated by the solidity of the line, and the diminution
in the cost of maintenance. The works had progressed
satisfactorily on the Bangalore branch line during the past
half-year. The chief difficulty and delay in the construc-
tion of this branch had been caused by the rocky and hilly
ascent to the table-land of Mysore, in the course of which
large quantities of rock had to be removed and deep cuttings
excavated. Those difficulties were very much increased by
the unhealthiness of those particular places. They had,
however, overcame those difficulties, and the remainder of
the line would be completed as fast as the materials for the
permanent way could be delivered. The Bangalore branch
would be completed by the middle of next year, and would
connect the main line with the large and populous city of
Mysore, an emporium of trade and manufactures, and the
largest military station in the south of India. It was ex-
pected that this branch would bring a large accession of
traffic to the main line. The North-West line commenced
also at Madras, passing over the south-west or main line to
Arconum, where it diverged to Cuddapa, Gooty, and Bel-
lary, the original intention being to continue it to Moodgul
and on to the Nizam country, where it was to form a junc-
tion with the Great Indian Peninsula Railway. It had since
bean proposed that, instead of making the line to Moodgul,
it should be carried to Hyderabad, and there form a junc-
tion with the Great Indian Peninsula Railway. The ques-
tion was now before the local Government, and would be
decided by them. The works in the meantime were being
carried on to Bellary; the great obstacle to the construction
of the North-West line was the unhealthy ascent front the

lower country into the district of Cuddapa. He believed
the line up this ascent had just been completed, and he had
no doubt the trains were passing over it by this time. It
was expeeted that this line would be completed for a distance
of 66 miles from Arconum in the early part of next year.
The traffic had been fully stated in the report, and he
thought the results were satisfactory. The increase in the
passenger traffic during the past half-year had been 12 per
cent., and in the goods traffic 24 per cent. on the main line.
The increase in the receipts had been £16,400 over those of
the preceding half-year, The increase in the traffic on the
41 miles of the North-West line had been about 96 per cent.
as compared with the corresponding period of last year.
The increase in the expenses had been caused chiefly by re-
placing the wooden sleepers with iron ones, but that would
cease when the operation was completed. The suostitution
of wood for coal and coke in their engines would effect a
saving of 50 per cent, in the item of fuel. They proposed to
raise additional capital to the amount of £1,000,000. They
had already raised £5,000,000 on shares and £2,000,000 on
debentures, making £7,00J,000. There was a sum of about
£400,000 in the hands of the Government, which would
probably be sufficient for the next six months to carry on
the works.
Mr. ARBUTHNOT seconded the motion for the adoption
of the report.

In reply to questions it was stated that the amount ex-
pended on works which were at present unproductive was
£3,000,000. The working expenses on the main line were 51
per cent., and on the North-West line 40 per cent. of the
gross receipts. The bridge on the main line near Beypoor,
which had been accidentally swept away by a flood, was only
30ft span ; but the bridge built in place of it was erected on
screw piles, and had openings of 200 ft, so that thera was no
probability of such an accident again happening at that
place.
Resolutions were passed adopting the report and autho-
rising the directors to raise additional capital to the amount
of £1,000,000 under a guarantee of 5 per cent.
A. vote of thanks to the chairman and directors concluded
the proceedings.