The Sun.
London, England, 1846-11-12 00:00:00

RAILWAY INTELLIGENCE.
BRITISH AND BELGIAN FARES.

One of the most mischievous effusions of absurdity has
been founded on a comparison of English and Belgian
lines.

It is stated that the average fares per mile stand thus:
England. Belgium.
Ist class ...... 2.60 d.
2nd class
3rd class
It is, therefore, assumed that the wide difference be•
tween the fares arises from the extravagant profits and
dividends of the English companies, and for their fond-
ness for keeping up high fares.
We propose to examine into this more closely than we
did last week, and we believe we shall be able to prove
to the satisfaction of every one, that a worse founded
argument was never put forward. If we fail, it will be
for want of clearness only, not from want of truth in our
arguments.
We would, in the first instance, observe, that the ave-
rage assumed is not of the least value, as it is a false
average of the various fares on the English lines,
while the uniform rate of the Belgian state lines is set
against it.
The average of the first and second class English is
made up of the express and ordinary fares, which have
no correlation. The Great Western charge 3d. a mile
first class fur trains which go fifty miles an hour, which
does not admit of comparison with the Belgian fares and
Belgian speed.
An average in an investigation of this kind is of no
good, as the complaint of excessive fares has nothing to
do with an average fare, but with the fares above the
average.

A comparison of actual fares is, however, enough to
show that the average is no criterion, because there are
fares in England absolutely as low as the Belgian fares,
and which cannot be matters of complaint, whatever
ground of complaint there may be against those which
are higher than the Belgian fares.
We take the Board of Trade returns for 1845, as more
easy of reference, though the rates are higher than the
actual rates.

Ist Class. 2d Class. 3d Class.
Exp. Ord. Exp. Ord. Ord. Slow
Arbroath 1.92 1.45 1.
Ardrossan
Branding 1.5 1.
Whitstable
Birkenhead
Drogheda,
Kingstown
Dundee 2.15 1.79 1.79 1.43 1.07
Newtyle" 1.78 1.55 1.16
Durh. &Sund (1) 0.61
(1) Average of Ist and 2d Class 0.91
EastnCounties 2.25 1.74 1.
Ditto 2.94 2.27 1.64
Ed. & Glasgow 2.08 1.56 1.
Garnkirk 0.93 0.60
Glas.&Greenk 1.37 0.85 0.57
Glas. and Ayr 1.87 1.25 0.87
Grand Junct. 2.44 2.08 1.71 0.92
GreatWestern2.B3 2.74 1.77 1.60 1.
Hull and Selby 1.93 1.54 0.96
Lond. & 8irm.2.88 2.45 1.81 1.00
Ditto ditto 2.13 1.49
L. & Croydon 1.42 1.14 0.85
L&S.Western2.B7 2.48 1.91 0.89

0.88

0.28

Ditto ditto 2.17 1.62
Man. & Birm. 2.47 2.11 1.62 1.00
Man. & Leeds 2.58 2.00 1.00
Midland
South Eastern 2.45 2.04 1.36 0.82
Here is a very varied class of accommodation, and
with fares varying according to the traffic of the several
districts. Those districts which have the largest traffic
have generally the lowest fares, and those which have
the smallest traffic have the highest fares. There can be
no uniformity of fares between a populous level district
and a thinly peopled mountain country, while in the
latter the cost of construction will also be higher. The
truth is, a great deal of the Belgian traffic, under the
present system, is paying 12i per cent. profit, and the
passenger between Antwerp and Brussels, for instance,
is made to pay for the passenger between Louvain and
Verviers.
The English passenger is made to pay rates and taxes
amounting to about 8 or 9 per cent., from which the Bel-
gian passenger is free. To make a comparison between
an English and Belgian fare this allowance must be taken
into the account. The comparison is, however, com-
pletely futile, because the English trains travel at a
higher rate of speed, and run more frequently, and the
increase of expense on this account is enormous.
In the calculation of English fares the extreme fares
are shown, whereas the actual fares paid by the majority
of passengers are on day-tickets, so that the fare paid
by the majority of passengers is much below the rates
given above.
The English traffic differs in every respect from that
of Belgium, because it is to a great extent a through
traffic, while in the latter country there has, until lately,
been no through traffic. It is, however, recognised by
the Minister of Public Works, that the tendency in the
through traffic is to increase the first and second class,
and not the third class. As the railway system deve-
lopes itself,'this is the natural result that first and second
class aceommodation should extend as the value of time
is better appreciated. While we have the Belgian pro-
portions or passengers quoted to us as a model, the Bel-
gian proportions every year alter in the way we have
mentioned.

NUMBER OF PASSENGERS.*

Ist Class. 2d Class. 3d Class. Total.
1843 ... 310,306 ... 854,391 ... 1,906,389 ... 3,071,093
1844 ... 362,234 ... 228,606 ... 2,070,022 ... 3,360,869
1845 ... 397,608 ... 970,552 ... 2,074,796 ... 3,443,066