The Sun.
London, England, 1847-04-21 00:00:00

GROUP XVI.

GREAT NORTHERN (BRANCHES FROM
HERTFORD TO ST. ALBAN'S).

The Committee re-assembled this morning at the usual
hour; Mr. Kemble in the chair.
At the sitting of the Committee the Chairman intimated
that the business was proceeding slowly; before they called
any more witnesses to show the necessity of the branch, he
thought it right to inform counsel that the Committee were
agreed that a line of railway was required between Hertford
and St. Alban's.
Mr. HILDYARD admitted, on the part of the Eastern Coun-
ties, that such a line was required.
Mr. Sergeant WRANGIIAbt said, if the Committee were sa-
tisfied of that, it would be unnecessary to call any more wit-
nesses with respect to the local advantages of the line, but
simply to adduce engineering evidence, and evidence as to
the advantages which it would confer upon other parts of
the country; he would, however, with the permission of the
Committee, call Mr. Repton, M.P. for the borough of Saint
Alban's.

' Mr. Repton, M.P., was then called and examined by Mr.
Sergeant WRANGHAM. His evidence went to corroborate
that already adduced in favour of the line—that it would be
of the greatest advantage to his constituents, and to Hatfield
and Hertford, and would open up communication east and
west, and, by the existing lines and those to be made, north
and south, which the district did not possess at present.
Mr. West said he had been employed to ascertain the popu-
lation in Hertfordshire immediately contigudus to each of I
the lines which traversed it, and the following were the
results :—On the London and North Western, 47,020; the
Eastern Counties,44,o9s ; and on the Great Northern, 65,597.
The Hitchin population was included in the number allotted
to the Great Northern.
Mr. Wrigley, a mining engineer, said he was well ac-
quainted with the coal mines of Yorkshire, Derby, and Lei-
cester, and that he had visited the district traversed by the
proposed line, in connexion with the coal trade. The price
of coals, owing to the circuitous and expensive route, was very
high in the district. In Hertford the price of the same kind
of coal had varied from 18s. 6d. to 325. The Silkston
coal had not yet found its way into the district.
The consumption of coal in the district was at the rate of
one ton per head of the population. By the aid of the Direct
Northern and the proposed branches, coals could be brought
into the district at 12s. 6d. per ton less than at present,
particularly the Silkston coal (Silkston is near Barnsley).
Cross-examined—Knew that Parliament had granted a
line from Lynn to Ely, thus giving a continuous line of rail-
way between that port and Hertford ; but coals would not
be brought by sea to Lynn and transmitted to Hertford by
railway, as the price at Lynn would be the same as that at
which they could be delivered by railway in the district.
Mr. Webb, a corn-factor at Hackney, gave evidence in
favour of the line.
Mr. Cubitt, jun., the engineer, was then examined at con-
siderablepect to the line. It would be 15i
m les long; le n gwouldth
withc respect
tbsetween 3. 00,000/. and 400,0001., and
presented no engineering difficulties of any kind.
By the COMMITTEE—It was advisable to carry on the line
from Hertford to Ware, parallel with the line of the Eastern
Counties, in order to avoid any interference with the traffic
of that line, which was considerable between Hertford to
Ware ; and because it would be well to have an independent
terminus.

The witness was also examined with respect to the prs-
Perties of the petitioning landowners—Baron Dimsdale, Mr.
Smith, and Mrs. Chambers ; but he denied that in either
case residential injury would be done, as the properties were
crossed in the most objectionable arts
Adjourned until to-morrow. P
.

The Committee GROUP
"111.
, the Earl of Lincoln in the chair, met
g at twelve o'cl
I
this morning
zichlelivhtehlssbe Nr,aenr:lb.S7,,Nlotnueldssgesivweetroe
called to show the facility
the trade of Gloucester.
e corn merchant at Gloucester mated
CIIEMMETZFiII.ra AND0 oun T.,..r
Mr. Philpotts an extensive
that the articles sent from London were chiefly tides for domestic consumption. The line between expensive
ar-
and Gloucester had now been for some t
, and the
break of gauge would therefore be a serious ill°.reku Oxford
To Mr. TALBOT the witness replied, that Wexford was
the traded, but the for_
-
would, in all probability,
nmtiopnorot
fhteothr.ceh•
halircraliCitlet rhreao)irfl railway
ye
co un try, and the goods or
change t
corn which had been hitherto sent by Limerick or
Wexford might possibly come by Waterford. He feared,

however, that in the event of the opposing line being formed,
that much of the traffic would be driven from the neigh-
bourhood.

Mr. Paul stated that the distance between Cheltenham
and London, the railway distance, was 1214 miles; between
Cheltenham and Oxford the distance was at present 79
miles, and between Gloucester and London, 10Si miles, making
a saving of five miles. Taking the average of fare at 2d. a
mile, the saving between London and Gloucester would be
6s. Bd., and between Cheltenham and Oxford the saving
would be Bs. 4d. in the double journey. The saving between
Cheltenham and Oxford, so far as distance was concerned,
would be twenty-five miles. The distance to North
Leach from Cheltenham would be by the proposed line
twelve miles, while by the narrow gauge line it would be
fourteen miles. The next station was Burford, and
the town after that was Witney, the celebrated manu-
factory for Witney blankets. There was already a Bill
sanctioned by Parliament for a line from Oxford to Witney,
and the stations had been devised with an especial view to
meet the arrangements for that line. On the contrary, the
proposed station of the narrow gauge line was fixed
behind the church, upwards of a mile from the centre of the
town, and without any communication whatever with the
railway which had already been granted. The line, of course,
was placed in connexion with the Great Western station
already formed at Oxford. The witness then explained from
the plans of the several towns the positions of the stations.
Mr. Thompson, of Cheltenham, late chairman of the Tring
line, and other witnesses, confirmed what had been previously
affirmed, and the Committee then adjourned.