The Sun.
London, England, 1847-01-07 00:00:00

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TRAFFIC TO AND FROM METRO-
POLITAN RAILWAY TERAIINI.
Tbe following are interesting and curioes extracts
from the recsntly fainted Minutes of Evidence taken
before the Metropolitan Beilway Commissioners, and
isoied by orler of Parliament. Air. B. W. Horne is the
witness examined.
It would be a fair conclusion that the more railway
termini are concentrated in the heart of the City, the
less the traffic in the immediate heart of the City will be
cased in its great arteries?—ust so.
The traffic will not go on J—l am quite satisfied that,
upon the evidence, you would, as you proceed, arrive at
the conclusion, that it is impossible for the to:mini to be
in the City of London.
The traffic will come in conflict at particular times?—
Yes ; and there is another thing—you will not require
omnibuses for it, which would take away ten people at
a time, but you must have cabs ; therefore, you will
have about eight vehicles to take eight people instead of
one, and you cannot help it.
So that these passengers distributed will occupy more
space ?—Yes. I will, give an illustration of it, The
only railways which we carry but few passengers to and
from by omnibuses are the Brighton and the Dover.
Now, in 26 times a-day in and out of the Brighton and
Dover station conjointly, we do not average much more
than four passengers a trip for the 365 days, five is the
most; in fact, we cannot average five. The omnibus which
starts from Oxford-street and Charing-cross and Fleet-
street will not produce five passengers in going to the
London-bridge station or from it.
To what do you attribute that?—The station being
there; it is so close to the City that a man takes a cab,
and the result is, that though he would pay me sixpence
to ride, he would rather pay a shilling, because he can
start five minutes later, and goes direct to the City.
Therefore, I would not be one to run an omnibus, on any
consideration, in and out of the London-bridge station,
except that I am bound to do so.
That does not apply to the Great Western?—With the
Great Western we make better trips ; we have nearly
three times the quantity of people to and from it.
Therefore, for the omnibus proprietor, the further off
the terminus is the better?—There is no question about
that. I only show that, as respects those who have to
bo moved to and from the London bridge station, that
you do not move them by omnibus, but by cabs.
Which is a more cumbersome way?—You want more
space, and it is dearer. The commissioners can have
from me any information which they wish. When they
have read my evidence through, anything that they think
it necessary they can have.
Will you let us have the details of what you have just
mentioned?—To and from the South-Western our traffic
is very great, and ail the case of the London and Bir-
mingham it is only moderate, because the position of
that railway is such that people can convey themselves
for Is. 4d. from there at once anywhere to the door by
a cab.
And in your omnibus for sixpence?—We must take
the high streets. We do not go by our omnibuses all the
way. Pirsons going by our omnibuses ride to the main
street, aid then walk to their destination, which is close
at hand; If you take our London and Birmingham om-
nibus from the station, we come into Pibeadilly, Oxford-
street, and Charing-cross. We take the three leading
streets. If you take the City omnibuses, we take Hol-
born, Fleet-street, Cheapside, the Bank, and Grace-
church-street, and extend any
.of them to the Dover and
Brighton Railways when required. Last night I made
an estimate of the treffic of the London and Birming-
ham absolutely for a month, that you might have an
opportunity of working it out for a year. The seasons
of the year of course will increase and diminish the
passenger communication, but I have taken up to the
11th of April in this present year from the 11th of
March, giving for the thirty-one days the absolute num-
ber of passengers moved by ourselves to and from the
station of the London and Birmingham, both City and
West.
By omnibus? —Yes.
From the Golden Cross only ?—No, the whole of Lon-
don. You will find by our books that we moved to and
from the City by ‘44./.. fuses 7,741 passengers; to and
from the West end„s:6; that forms the total of omni-
bus passengers that we moved; but we had from the
station to the City 3,185 cabs, and we had to the West,
6,989 cabs. Taking the average of each cab at one pas-
senger and a half (for none go with less than one, and
many with three, and sometimes four:, that will make,
for the omnibus and cab traffic together 17,296 people
moved by us to and from the City, and 24,353 West.
We also moved 141 carriages.
Private carriages?—Private carriages; post carriages.
of which we had 11 carriages to the City, and 130 to
the West. Taking the average of the passengers using
those carriages at three (gencrally speaking it is two and
a servant, and in many cases it will be more, and °cea-
se 'flatly only one), it will make it that the total estimate
is 17,329 City, and 24,743 West. In addition to the
above statement, we have to consider the cabs that drive
to the station more than from, which is to be accounted
for by the omnibuses loading better from the station—
for they do load better from the station than to the sta-
tion—and that is easily accounted for, because a man
in going to the station has to go to the omnibus; therefore
the calculations might be estimated as follows, which,
by bringing the aforesaid figures, makes it in favour of
the City, there being less from the City by omnibuses
and more by cabs than from the West-end, in proportion
to the reduction by the omnibuses. I have taken 1,563
extra to and from the City, and 1,043 West. Then you
have to add a double quantity of passengers by the car-
riages from the City and from the West-end in the pro-
portion which I give, which then brings the total for the
City 18,925, and for the West 26,176. Now you may
assume that each ttp-train has on an average three pri-
vate vehicles to meet it, either carriages or hired cabs
of their own, which we do not take cognisance of, or
hackney coaches, glass coaches, and so forth, and which
the publi3 use by their own orders, and there bring
twenty trains a day, an average of only three passen-
gers to each of those vehicles will give 180 persons,
that will make a total of 2,430 people to and from the
City, and will give you 7,290 people to and from the
West, because it is a known face, that three carriages out
of four will go to the West. You must take into consi-
deration the omnibus, cab, and carriage traffic together,
and if y6u draw a comparison upon the whole figures,
von will find that it is not quite three to the West-end
against one to the City ; that brings you to a total
finally of 21,355 people to and from the City, and gives
you 33,465 to and from the West-end. If you want to
know where the division takes place as regards this
comparison, it is thus—what 1 have given you as in-
tended for City people, is much in favour of the City.
We drive first to the George and Blue Boar, Holborn,
and those who get out there will naturally go West.
We pass down Holborn ; we then go down Fetter-lane
or Chancery-lane, and drop people who take the Temple,
and then into the City. In the estimate, I give you
every one of those as City persons. Now, the West-end
traffic does not go nearer Holborn than this, that it goes
to Griffin's Green Man, Oxford-street ; comes from
Griffin's Green Man down to Piccadilly, and from Pic-
cadilly to Charing-cross ; that is the way in which it
is estimated for the west-end, so that in truth the divi-
sion of traffic is more in favour of the City than it is of
the West.
Have you thought of the advantage of bringing the
terminus of the London and Birmingham Railway nearer
to the City than Euston-square ?—I have done so. As
regards benefit to the public, no doubt it would be a
benefit so far as the City is concerned, but it would
be a great disadvantage to the West-end, for this
reason—at the Euston station the fare by omnibuses
to Qracechurch-street, Fleet-street, the Bank, and
to Charing-cross, and all the other places, is only
six pence. Of course, in taking a cab, the fares
are restricted by our arrangements with the cab people,
so that they do not, as they usually do, charge more
than their fare. You may go to Holborn for ls. from
the station. You may go to the Bank, which perhaps
is the heaviest, for 2s. ; and so on. You may go to
Regent-circus for is., and to Charing-cross for ls. 4d.
Now, supposing you took people from Euston-square
and brought them to Farringdon-street, what would be
the consequence ? Firm of all they would have to pay
an additional toll fur the Railway ; for that I should
make a calculation, looking at the expense, amount-
ing to 2d. per mile per passenger, taking the average of
the first and second class ; therefore, taking that as a
criterYon, you must add to that the cab faro from that
station to the same points. If, therefore, a man wanted
to go to Holborn, he would have to pay 4d. extra to get
to Farringdon-street, and Bd. by cab, that makes ls.,
which is precisely the same as from Euston-square,
It a man went to Fleet-street, he would pay
nothing but the extra charge of 4d. by railway ;
that is in favour of Fleet-street. Then, on the
other hand, to the Bank, I admit it would be but
Is., say Bd. for the cab and 4d. for the railway,
instead of 2s. To Gracechurch street it would be Is.
instead of 2s. To the West end of the town it would be
thus; that if you went to Regent Circus, Oxford-street,
you wculd Fay Is. from Euston-square; if you went
from Farringdon-street it would cost you Is. Bd., Bd.
more, and so on in proportion; the West-end is
higher upon the cab-Puree,, as the City is reduced.
But taking the whole, and striking the average, you
will find that the bond fide cost to the public will be
considerably more than by the way they now go. Then
I would say, that every passenger using our omni-
buses, either City or West, would be subjected to a charge
of est. besides the extra presumed 4d. by the railway.
If, therefore, a man wanted to go to the Dover. Railway
from the terminus,h he would pay 6d. for an
.ornre-
bus to take
would be 11."1
that there and 4d. for the railway,
the publie at large". ; therefore the absolute cost to
in the next plasowfoauld be greater on the whole.
will be lost upon the 3;ooaso the West traffic goes, time
passengers, as some time
must be consumed at the division of the train, if any, at
Euston-square, or even if it goes direct
ailf
to the City, be-
cause you have to supply the
E district, independ-
ently of the ditficult••i in progress to the City
7a they go
rnre
tation. If you take a cab from Rust
,
Charing-cro:s in a quarter of an hour, h nt you will
at get from Farringdon-street in the saran tune for
rtainty.
So that really it is a loss of time and a losa of me y
o 3 far as regards the west-end?--Yes; out of the 11
arriagei that we had to the City, there were eight which
as ent to the Eastern Counties Railway, and three only
went to London-bridge for the Brighton and the Dover
ailways. There were but three carriages during the
whole month that went on to the South-Eastern or Brigh-
ton Railway.
From the north ?—Frdrn the north. I will finish my
remarks by merely making this statement, that the
trade to the railway to and from the Birmingham
Railway cannot be heavy ; that is, that persons do not
go direct ; and the fact of eleven carriages to the City
in the thirty-one days shows that even those went as
follows. Where do you think they went ?It happened
to be the Newmarket races, and nine of those car-
riages were vans conveying the horses for the races; con-
vequently it is fair to assume that only three carriages
went to the City, and 130 to the West-end. There is an-
other thing to Le observed, which is, that the Dover Rail-