The Sun.
London, England, 1846-11-28 00:00:00

THE

RAILWAY FARES.
The following are extracts from the evidence printed,
together with the second report from the Select Commit-
tee on Railway Acts Enactments. It illustrates the fare
system abroad as well as at home. The first extracts
are from the testimony of W. Reed. Esq.
Will you now state the rates charged upon the Paris
and Rouen Railway ?—For first class passengers we
charge 16 francs, which may be called 12s. 9d.; that is
1 8-10 d. per mile.
Including how much luggage ?—Fifteen kilogrammes;
30 pounds.
What is the charge for passengers' luggage exceeding
30 pounds ?—Six francs the 100 kilogrammes, which is

_
about 2s. 6d. a hundred.
Is not that much less than is now allowed upon the
new lines ?—Yes ; on new lines the quantity of luggage

allowed is doubled.
What is the fare by the second class ?—The second
class is 13 francs, which is 10s. 4id.; and that is about
1.46 d. per mile English.
What luggage is allowed for the second class ?—The

same quantity.
Are those second-class passengers carried in closed
carriages ?—ln closed carriages, which are lined, glazed,

and cushioned.
What are the third class ?—The third class we charge
10 francs, which you may call Bs., that is, 1.13 d., a little
more than a penny and a tenth.
What luggage do you allow the third-class passengers?

—The same.
What description of carriages ?—Open carriages ;
at
present entirely open.
With seats 2—With seats, but no curtains and no roof.
Then we send also third-class passengers by our goods
trains, and we charge those people 6 francs, which is
4s. 91d. for the whole distance, which is at the rate of
two•thirds of a penny per mile, as nearly as possible.
What is the difference of speed between your goods
trains and the other trains ?—We are about six hours
going by the goods trains, and four by the others, so that
we can carry 80 miles for 4s. 9id.
Do the goods trains start during the daytime, as other
trains 2—They start at one o'clock in the day.
Have you as many of those trains as you have of
others ?—No, we have only one in the day ; all the rest
of our goods go at night. They are essentially goods
trains. We are as particular about our goods trains in
France as we are about passenger trains. There is one
starts about one o'clock in the day.
Does it load very much ?—Not very much.
What luggage is allowed to the third-class passengers
by the goods trains ? The same luggage in all cases.
Are your rates higher than upon the Orleans line ?
I think they are higher than upon any new railway in
France. It is right that I should state that these are
the rates from end to end of the line ; but we felt it ex-
pedient, about . a twelvemonth ago, to lower those rates
for the first 35 miles out of Paris, and the intermediate
stations, and also for the first 18 or 19 miles out of
Rouen, so as to give to the inhabitants of those large
towns an opportunity of going cheaply comparatively
short distances ; take the instance from Paris to Mai
sons ;itis 17 kilometres. We are allowed to charge
10 centimes a kilometre, and the fare, therefore, would
be 1 franc 70 centimes. Instead of that we take now
1 franc 25 centimes ; in round numbers it comes to
, 10 miles for ls., and, therefore, it is 1 2-10 d. a mile for

the second-class passengers going ten miles out of the
metropolis. The intermediate distances we have also
lowered, more especially those near to the two termini.
You think it is no advantage to the Rouen line to have
a higher rate of charge than the Orleans 2-1 think not;
of course it remains to be tried ; my own opinion is that
it is not an advantage.
With a line to Caen charging Orleans prices, it would
not be practicable to continue the higher charges upon
the Rouen ?—No ; I think there is an understanding that
we shall charge the lower rates for all passengers join-
ing us at Caen, and if it comes to that we shall of course
have to do it for the whole.

Then the charge will be uniform for all the great lines
in France ?—Yes ; I think the French Government have
come to this conclusion, that they will have one tariff for
passengers on all the lines ; and if the traffic on some
lines is not sufficiently remunerative the) will make it
tip in some other way, either by making part of the rail-
way at their own cost, or lending or giving a sum of
money, so as to make it worth while to carry passen-
gers at that price.
You mean that they intend to have a, maximum rate
for all lines ?—Yes.
They would not object to the company's reducing
their rates ?—No, if any one would be weak enough to
take a railway without remuneration, I dare say they
would not object to that ' • but all laws for making rail-
ways in France emanate from the Government, and are
founded upon estimates of the cost and traffic previously
ascertained. If they found that it was not likely to be
remunerative at those prices, they would give something
to make it so.

What do they consider a remunerative rate of interest
to the parties ?—From five to six per cent.
Will you now state what classes of persons you are
obliged to carry, by the law applicable to your line, at a
less price than your ordinary rate ?—We are obliged to
carry the military at half-price.
And the military going in bodies at a less price still ?
—No, that is so in subsequent concessions, but does not
apply to the Rouen Railway.
Under article 43, solders and sailors going singly upon
the public service must be carried at half-price ?—Yes.
You have had experience of the different systems
which prevail on the lines of railroad in France and in
England ; it is your opinion that the fares on the
lines of railroad in this country are higher than are
necessary for a profit?—Yes, I have always been of that
opinion.
Do you think that if the fares had been lower the
lines would have been as profitable, or even more so,
than they have in fact been?—l believe they would have
been more profitable.
From your experience should you say that it was wise
on the part of railway companies to discourage third-
class passengers, by placing them in uncomfortable car-
riages ?—No, the experience which I have had in France
goes (Erectly to destroy that notion, if I had ever enter-
tained it. When we first opened the Rouen line, having
been always bound to take third-class carriages, we put
third-class carriages to two trains a day only. The
Government insisted upon it that by the law we
ought to attach them to every train. We con•
tested that doctrine, and we went on contesting it I
suppose for nearly twelve months; during those twelve
months we merely took third-class passengers by two
trains a day ; ultimately we began to alter our opinion,
and to think it would be better to attach third-class car-
riages to every train. We did so, and we have gone on
increasing the number of passengers and our receipts
ever since. We opened the railway on the 9th of May,
1843 ; up to the 31st of December of that year we took
of first-class passengers, 73,811 ; of second class passen-
gers, 251,250 ; and of third-class passengers, 99,C82.
During that time there were only two-third-class
trains running daily ?—Exactly ; in the beginning of
the year, 1844 we began to attach third-class carriages
to each train ; we took in that year 108,170 first-class
passengers, second-class 352, 296, and third class 341,844.
In the following year we took first-class passengers
120,568, second class 434,343, and third-class 410,780.
These numbers will show that, although the number of
first and second-class passengers was not diminished,
but augmented, we had an immense augmentation of
third-class passengers.
Were the second-class passengers carried during the
whole of that time in closed carriages ?—Yes.
In what kind of carriages were the third-class pas-
sengers carried?—ln open carriages with benches in
them.

Are they now carried in that way?—They are still so
carried; but the French Government have insisted, in
all the latter lines, that the third-class carriages shall
be covered; that is to say, shall have a roof, and curtains
on the sides, for which additional comfort to the public
hey have agreed to allow 51 centimes for a kilometre
to be charged instead of five, which was given before.
The fare is raised to the third-class passengers to that
amount ?—Yes, half a centime to the kilometre.
Is the Rouen line about to conform to that ?—I men-
tioned on Friday that the tariff on the Rouen line is
higher than any other in France. We have altered the
tariff in practice as to short distances upon the line. I
have no doubt that we shall eventually find it our in-
terest to make it general, and conform to the standard
of the Orleans Railway ; but we are not compelled to
do so by law.
You carry a great many English people upon that
line?—Yes, a great many of the first-class passengers are
English.
Is it not the case that you carry more first-class I
?assengers than many foreign railways carry, because
there are so many English who travel upon the line?—l
believe that it is so.
Is it not the case that on foreign railways generally
there are few first-class passengers?—l believe about ten
per cent.
Is there the same difference in the rate of fares
between first-class, second-class, and third class pas-
sengers, as there is in England?—No; the French tariff
is, in my opinion, better. In the case of the Rouen line
the fares are in the proportion of five, four, and three,
between the three classes.
Have D. Salomons, Esq.
you had any opportunities of ascertaining what
are the comparative charges made for passengers and
goods on French and English railways?—l have. I wish
to state, in the first instance, that I went over to France
,with Mr. Robert Stephenson and others, when the
northern line of France was first projected, in the year
1843, and my attention having thus been directed in the
first instance to the statistics of French railways, I have
Since taken an interest in other lines, and from these
circumstances have been induced to make inquiries, and
to collect information respecting the general system 01
French railways.
Will you give the Committee any examples or com-
parative statements with which you may be furnished on
•he subject? —[ thought, perhaps, the most convenient
way might be to examine the comparative fares on some
of the completed lines of railway in France, such as the
Orleans and the Rouen Railways, with lines of a nearly
similar length in England. I have taken the Orleans
Railway for one, and the Rouen for another. The Paris
to Orleans Railway is 121 kilometres, or 76 miles long;
the Rouen is 136 kilometres, or 85 miles long. I have
taken, in comparison with them, the South-Eastern to
Folkestone and Dover, which is 88 miles; the South-
Western, which is, I think, about 751 or 76 miles; the
Birmingham, from London to Rugby, which is 85, ai
the Manchester to Birmingham, which is 85 miles.
find that the charge for the first class to Dover is 155.,
the second class, 10s.; the third class, 6s. I find from
London to Rugby it is 14s. 6d. first class, 10s. second,
and 6s. 11d. third class. On the Manchester and Bir-
mingham, the first class is 155.; second class, 1Is.; and
third class, 75. iIL The fare for the first class on the
Rouen is 135.; for the second class, 105. 9d.; and for the
third class, open carriages, Bs. 3d. I refer in each case
to the fares actually charged. I find upon the Orleans,
which is 76 miles long,•they charge 12s. for the coupe
(this is a superior class); the
ordinary
first-class °bog'
is 10s.; the second class, 7s. 9d.; anti the WA clue 13