The Sun.
London, England, 1846-03-24 00:00:00

REIGATE BILA.NCR.

Mr. HOPE made an application to the Committee to abridge
the time for taking the consideration of this branch, upon
which the Committee decided that as the private opponents
of the Bill had appeared they would dispose of the uncon-
tested Bills, and then take the Reigate branch as the first of
the competling lines.
CHER,TSEY/ AND SOUTH-EGIL&M.

Mr. Hors in bringing this branch before the Committee,
said that this was another of those small branches the South •
Western Company had projected rather with a view to the
accommodation of the public than to profit, like that of which
the Committee had just disposed. The line was to be
six miles in length, and was to run from the main line,
near Weybridge to the foot of Staines-bridge. The distance.
would be materially shortened, and the two chief towns of
Surrey, Guildford and Kingston, the two chief towns on
which Chertsey and Egham depend, would be relieved from
, long and circuitous routes. The several details would be
given to the Committee, so that he would not enter upon
them. The Company were quite ready to accede to
a desire expressed by the Commissioners of Woods
and Forests, and carry the line into Staines itself.
Staines had a population of between 4,000 and 5,000,
placed in the centre of a rich agricultural district, which
greatly required railway accommodation. One instance of
this was shown in the heavy cost of the carriage of lime, a
manure much required by the soil in the neighbourhood.
That cost was now l/. a ton, whereas by the formation of
this line that cost would be reduced to ls. Bd. a ton to
Chertsey and 2s. Gd. to Egham. The line was likely also to be
very useful in opening a better access to the county towns
of Guildford and Kingston during the holding of petty ses-
sions and the assizes. A good avenue would further be
opened for the trade, both from the eastern and western
districts of the country. One other advantage would be one
which ought not altogether to be passed over—that was
the facility of access which the construction of this line
would give to the Court, to the Isle of Wight, and Brighton.
The only opposition was offered on the part of Mr. Evans,
late Sheriff of London, but whose objections the Company
were anxious to meet by every means in their power. As
several of the witnesses were required to be at the Assizes
to-morrow at Kingston, he (Mr. HopeNtrusted the Committee
would pass through the evidence as quickly as they could.
Colonel Thomas Challenor, of Portland Park, on Virginia
Water, a considerable landoa ner, testified that the traffic by
his property had so decreased, that instead of thirty-two
coaches, which had been put off the road by the Great
Western and South Western Railways, there was only one
every other day. Property had consequently declined in
value. It now cost him 245. to get a waggon load of
chalk from Guildford, and that he could only get oc-
casionally in the winter. The railway would reduce this
expense, so that both he and his neighbours could obtain
this manure, and thus would render their land twice as pro-
ductive as it was now. So far as the Court was concerned,
he had to ob.erve that Windsor was now eighteen miles from
the Farnborough station, and there was no cavalry post be-
tween the two places, a distance far too great to send an
escort of cavalry. As a magistrate, he conceived that this
branch would bowery advantageous in improving the com
municatis between the several parts of the country and the
country -fowns—indeed, in every way the line wbuld be
beneficial. -• •
By a cross-examination_pf Mr WORD-SWORTN, who ap -
peared on behalf of Mr. EVlms, it wia.shown -that, the
tance between the neighbourhood of Colonel \Challenoi'?
estate and Guildford, would be increased in consequence of
going by the railway by 7 miles, and to London by 2i miles.
About sixty prisoners were annually sent from his part of the
country to Guildford, the expense of whose transmission
would be reduced to one-third by the railway.
Captain Cavendish, a magistrate and agriculturist, con-
firmed Colonel Challenor's evidence, particularly as to getting
coal and chalk from the south east, as also the transmission
of prisoners.
The Committee then adjourned till to-morrow at twelve
o'clock.

Sub-Committee No. 1.
ZILIKARNOCIC AND AYR DIRECT.

The Committee on standing orders, who have charge of the
group of which this line is the first on the list, are Mr.
Strutt, chairman, Mr. Brotherton, Mr. Cavendish, and Mr.
Forbes. The other lines to come before the same Committee,
are, Paisley, Barrhead, and Hurlet ; Hamilton and Strath-
haven; Kilmarnock and Troon ; Morayshire; Pool Harbour;
Oxford, Southampton, Gosport, and Portsmouth; Ayrshire
and Caledonian Junction ; Forth and Clyde Junction ; Wilts,
Somerset, and Southampton; Newcastle-upon-Tyne, Edin-
burgh, and Direct Glasgow; Oxford, Coventry, and Burton-
on-Trent; Glasgow and Dundee Junction; East Fife; Edin-
burgh and Perth ; Kinross Junction ; Edinburgh and Hamil-
ton Direct ; West Riding Union.