The Sun.
London, England, 1865-11-23 00:00:00

INDIAN TRAMWAY.

The directors of this company state in their report 1
that the line from the Madras Railway at Arconum 1
to Conjeveram was opened for a length of IG4 miles 1
on the Bth of May last, and further to the terminus
at Little Conjeveram on the Ist of August, the
whole distance being 18 miles 65 chains. The laud
had been provided by the Government, 141 miles
being constructed upon the ordinary Government
public road, and 41 miles on land where no road
previously existed. The result of the past operations
in regard to the cost of construction, revenue, and
working expenses showed that with rails of 3511 b.
to the yard, and 314 ft. gauge, the cost of the works,
permanent way, stations, inspectors' houses, earth-
works, culverts, and three bridges, adapting the
common road for 14/ miles, and a new road for 42
miles, would be, when completed at the end of
October, about £62,000, or £3,300 per mile, and
locomotives and rolling stock £13,000 ; making
together £75,000, or just under £4,000 per mile for
the line and stock. The gross traffic receipts
from the Bth of May to the 31st of August
amounted to £1,769, of which the receipts of
three weeks from the opening, during a festival
on the Bth of May, to the 31st of May, were
£857 ; for the month of June, £275 ; for July,
£283 ; and for August, £354 ; or an average of
£450 per month. It was impossible, at this early
period, to estimate the future traffic; but that to
realise a net profit of 5 per cent. on the whole capi-
tal a revenue of £9 per mile per week would suffice.
The number of passengers conveyed during that
period was 43,496, or about 12,000 per month, and
the working expenses had averaged 65 per cent.
With a train of 97 tons a safe running speed of 35
miles an hour had been obtained, although for eco-
nomical reasons the speed was limited to about 15
miles an hour. The total exnenditure, after pay-
ment of all charges, had amounted to £88,935, but
of this there had been incurred in payment of inter-
est during construction £6,151, and in surveys and
expenses in Madras and in the other Presidencies
£6,849 previous to undertaking the Arconum line.
In estimating those results there was a certain fixed
expenditure which was equally available for several
hundred miles of railway as for the short Arconum
section, and which in the one case could not be di-
minished, and in the other would scarcely bo ex-
ceeded. Of the capital of £lOO,OOO there remained
yet 2,825 unallotted shares of £5 each, equal to
£14,125 unexpended. The goods and passenger
traffic were both likely to increase and to be perma-
nent. It was not desirable, either in the interests of
the Government, of the public, or of the company,
to use the existing roads in any future works which
might be undertaken. The accuracy of the prin-
ciples laid down by the company had been verified
—namely, that on lines of moderate traffic a light
3ft. 6in. railway should be first laid, which, when
necessary, owing to the increased traffic, could be
relaid to the standard sft. 6in. gauge. The Govern-
ment Inspecting Engineer reported that the quality
of the work was in general excellent, the ballasting
and turfing of the slopes neatly exeted, and that the
rails were laid with the greatest care and accuracy.
in estimating the future value of the line, the share-
' holders were reminded that the lines connecting
Calcutta, the North-West Provinces, and Bombay
joined the Madras Railway at Arconum ; that an
extension of the line to the French settlement of
' Pondicherry to connect it with Madras and the above
northern. lines was in contemplation and urgently
demanded ; and that the whole traffic must, under
those circumstances, pass over the Arconum line.
With regard to the proposed extension, the Board
had received a reply to their communication from
the Governor of that settlement, offering every aid
and facility if the company would extend the line to
Pondicherry. The directors believe that this exten-
sion would be remunerative, and contribute an im-
portant link between the not th and south of India.