The Sun.
London, England, 1846-03-17 00:00:00

NORTH ZENT LINE.

Mr. Sergeant WRANGHAM opened the case for the promoters of this
line. The object of the Bill was to authorise the construction of a
line of railway from London through the district of North Kent to
Dover and Deal. Upon the necessity and importance of such line,
traversing as it did a large and active population, he might truly say
a locomotive population, there could not be a doubt
entertained. The population of the North Kent district,
independently of the metropolis, was about 400,000, and it con-
tained many of the great naval and military establishments
at Woolwich, Chatham, and Sheerness, while the line at
the same time passed through towns of such importance as
Maidstone and Canterbury, and ports of such importance as Dover
and• Deal. It required, therefore, no argument in support of such
line in the present advancing state of the railway system ; indeed,
its importance was fully admitted by a Committee of the House,
when the South-Eastern Bill was passed, but at that time there
were two insuperable obstacles to the making of such a line, namely,
the crossing of the Medway, at Rochester, and the difficulty, or, as it
was thought then, the impossibility of tunnelling wider the Brough-
ton Hills, near to Faversham, but it had since been fully ascertained
that these obstacles were not so great as they were originally sup-
posed to be, and it was now only for the Committee to decide which
of the two proposed lines was the best for serving the wants
of the district. The line he had the honour of sup-
porting commenced in the neighbourhood of Southwark-bridge,
in the Borough, and he might here mention that there was a project
before Parliament for extending the line across the bridge into the
very heart of the City, and the line would also be connected with a
short branch of the South-Western Company, which would carry it
to the Hungerford-bridge station, and to the centre of the western
part of the metropolis. From Southwark-bridge the line passed in
the direction of Peckham and Camberwell, and then, by a tunnel,
through Blackheath. A small loop was thrown out at this point,
which would pass through Woolwich and rejoin the main line on
Plumpstead-common. The main line passed under Woolwich-com-
mon, thence over Plurnpstead-common, and on through the populous
villages of Crayford, to the town of Dartford, and
thence to Gravesend. Paping hom Gravesend it arrived
at the Medway, which it crossed in an unobjectionable manner,
through Rochester, and along the banks of the river by means of a
viaduct, which would be an ornament rather than an injury to the
town. From Rochester it ran to Chatham, thence to bittingboum,
in the immediate neighbourhood of Milton, and then on to Faver-
sham, at which point they had laid down an alternative line, to
enable them either to avoid or to pass through that town. From
Faversham the line made for Canterbury, and after passing the
Broughton Hills, they threw out a branch towards Ramsgate' for
facilitating the communication between the Isle of Thanet and the
metropolis. Now the present distance from London to Canterbury
by the existing line was 85 miles. The North Kent Line would re-
duce the distance to 57 miles, while the project of the South-Eastern
Company would only reduce it to sixty-two miles or thereabouts.
From Canterbury there was a fork line, one running to Dover and
the other to Deal ; the latter was sixteen miles in length, and the
former fourteen. The existing distance between the metropolis and
Dover was eighty-eight miles, :he North Kent line would_ reduce it
to seventy-three. The estimate of the line was about three millions
and three quarters. The Learned Counsel concluded by stating that
lie wished, before producing the engineer, to give evidence to show
the importance of that district, and the extent of traffic which it
passed.
Mr. Aunts said he would admit that the traffic of the district
fully justified the making of a line through North Kant, and traffic
evidence of a general character need not therefore be gone into. The
only traffic evidence of any importance, for the Committee to be in
possession of, was that which was of a comparative nature, and
tended to show that the traffic of one route was less or greater than
that of the other.

Mr. Sergeant MURPHY consented, after what had fallen from his
Learned Friend, to abam.on the ti elle evidence, but he should pro-
pose to put in a table, showing the population of the districts through
which the line passed.
Mr. AUSTIN had no objection to such a table being put in.
Mr. Sergeant MURPHY understood that the necessity for a line
running through North Kent was admitted by all parties.
Mr. AUSTlN—Certainly it is.

The CHAIRMAN said it might be taken for granted that the extent
of population and traffic iu the North Kent district was quite
enough to justify the construction of a railway.
111 r, Sergeant MURPHY submitted then that the only question to
be decided by the Committee was what Company should be en-
trusted with the making of the line.
Mr. AUSTIN—Just so.

Mr. Sergeant Muarui—Then we propose to call witnesses to prove
that the North Kent line is pretend by the majority of the inha-
bitants of North Kent to the scheme of the South-Eastern Company.

Accordingly witnesses itom all parts of North Kent were exa.
mined to prove that the people were decidedly against the South•
Eastern, and in favour of the North Kent.