The Sun.
London, England, 1856-08-07 00:00:00

METROPOLITAN.

The following very clear statement of the merits of
this important rail way has been forwarded to us :
" The line sanctioned will commence at Paddington by
an independent terminus immediately opposite the Groat
Western Hotel, and, by a branch to the Great Western
Railway, along the South Wharf-road, will be connected
with that railway on the level ; it will then proceed under
the New-road to Euston-square, where it will throw off a
branch to the Euston Station; from Euston-square the line
will still keep the course of .the New-road to King's-cross,
where a short branch will be carried up Maiden lane to
connect it with the Great Northern Railway on the level;
from King's-cross the fine will take a direct course to the
prison in. Peldbath-fields, which is to be removed. The
valuable site of 81 acres of land on which the prison Stant IS,
and which will become the property of the company, will
compensate to a great extent the cost of erecting a new.
prison. The line then enters upon the large open space
which has recently been uncovered by the city under the
powers of the Clerkenwell Improvement Acts ; by this
fortunate coincidence, not only will the oost of construct-
ing the railway be-most materially lessened, but au ample
space will be obtained in the very heart of London for
station purposes, and for warehouses, for the accommoda-
tion of the daily increasing trade of London.
" The line will then cross Smithfield, where again it will
be carried for a considerable distance, without any inter-
ference with buildikas to St. Martin s-le-Grand and the
Post-office. The Parliamentary powers for those works
were obtained during the late monetary crisis, and upon„
terms highly favourable for the company.
" The capital is 1,000,0001. in shares of 101. each. All
the shares have been subscribed for, and a sum amounting
to 75,000/, is now standing to the credit of the company
in the hands of the Accountant-General.

" The entire length of the line will be four! miles one
furlong, of which nearly two miles Will be under the sur-
face of the New-road, where no purehase money will be
required, save in two or three exceptional cases, where a
few houses for station purposes may possibly have to be
taken. The site of the House of Correction, the Clorken-
well improvement district, and Smithfield, will comprise'
a further distance of half a mile, where little compensa-
tion will
.be required, and the greater portion of Praed-
street, and South Wharf-road will also be wide enough for
the railway, so that there will remain a little more than a
mile of the whole distance of ordinary house property, and
the cost of the land will consequently be less than one-
fourth of what it would have been if the linehad b93n less
happily selected, and that cost again will be materially re-
duced by the re sale of the surface after the works have
been covered in.
" The construction of the works will be attended with
no difficulty. .The mode of dealing with the New-road
and the other public thoroughfares was well Considered
and provided for by the different local authorities; it will
' occasion no inconvenience to the company, and ample al-
lowance for every expense under this head has been made;
the working drawings for the sewers have been arranged
and settled with the engineer of the Metropolitan Bird
of Works, and the requisite alterations in the drainage
will be completed at less cost than was at tilst contemplated
anchincluded in the estimates ; and the water and gas pipes
'will neither be disturbed during the construction of the
work, nor their situation altered, as the position of Mie
railway will admit not only of their retention, but atilt it
enlargement at any future period. The works throughout
are of an ascertained and uniform character, leas liable
than usual to sty tlistOtrbiug oo4ticsotioy, Nad admitting

•

of their being estimated with more than ordinary preci-
sion. Tho estimates, both for land and works, have been
revised and examined with the greatest minuteness, and
the surveyor and engineer are satisfied that the sum of
1,200,000/. will cover every contingency.
" The company have power to borrow 330,0001., so that
a sufficient margin will remain for the purchase of rolling
stock.
" The entire railway may easily be completed within 18
months after its commencement ; but, for greater caution,
two years are allowed for its being opened.
" The railway from the Great Western Railway to the
Post-office will be a double line of mixed gauge, adapted
for carriages on both the broad and the narrow gauge, with
two additional lines of rails on the narrow gauge frem the
Great Northern Railway to the City, for the accommoda-
tion of short trains on that line, and to meet the require-
ments of the dead-meat markets in the City, and the new
cattle-market in Copenhagen-fields, when the contemplated
arrangements with the Great Northern Company and the
Corporation of London are satiefactorily concluded.
" The arcade through which the railway will be carried
will be spacious, dry, and well ventilated and lighted ;
and, by the mode of working the trains, entirely free of
smoke and steam.
" The trains will be approached by wide and easy stairs,
not iuvolying more inconvenience than the ordinary descent
from the drawing to the dining room.
" The carriages will be spacious, and adapted for the
London traffic ; they will be fitted up with every comfort,
and mirrors and lights will altogether excluoe the idea of
underground travelling. The trains will be propelled by
locomotive engines, moved by steam generated from heated
water carried with the engines, with an apparatus for con-
densing the waste steam, by which means all annoyance
from smoke, grit, or steam will be avoided.
" The practicability and advantages of this motive power
were fully investigated by the committee on the bill, and
conclusively proved by the evidence of Messrs. Brunel!,
Fowler, and Scott Russell, and by experiments on the
Great Western Railway.
"The trains will be run in regular succession at inter-
vals of five minutes, with additional trains during the
busy hours of the morning and afternoon. From their fre-
quency, they will be light, and of nearly uniform weight ;
the passengers to take up and set down at each station,
from the shortness of the interval between one train and
another, will be few; fifteen are taken as the average, and
will require but a momentary stoppage. The gradients
will be uniformly good, and the rails will not be liable to
be rendered slippery and dirty by the weather or other
external influences. The trains will, therefore, be worked
with a clockwork regularity, which is all-important for
the business traffic of the metropolis, and will snore than
compensate for the comparatively low speed which will
be attained-15 miles, including stoppages, is reckoned on.
"As the railway and carriages will always be under
cover, they will not be liable to damage from weather, and
will in other respects be more economically managed.
, and maintained. _

" It is impossible to conceive a system of railway com-
munication better adapted for the accommodation of the
London passenger traffic. The regular omnibus traveller,
and the ladies and gentlemen who never venture into an
omnibus, will at all times, and at each station, be certain
to meet a conveyance to their taste, and which will assist
them some distance on their journey with speed and com-
fort, and at a small charge.
"Any estimate based upon the crowds which may be ex-
pected to avail themselves of such a convenience—from
Paddington, Kilburn, St. John's-wood, Marylebond, the
Itegent's-park, Tottenham-court-road, Euston-square,
King's cross, to and from the City, and from the endless
streams of traffic passing throughout the day between the
intermediate stations and place., to which they lead, would
be deemed an exaggeration.
"The experience of no existing railway can furnish the
slightest indication of the numbers which may be expected;
but the river steam-boats which touch at points further
removed from the great thoroughfares, at very uncertain
times, which take longer time to perform their journeys,
and are less conveniently approached, carry, it is computed,
150,000 persons daily.
"The following very modest calculation of traffic ap-
peared in the original prospectuses of the company, and
may be assumed as much under the mark:—
"Taking the trains to run every five minutes through
the day, from 8 a.m. till 10 p.m., with extra trains during
the busy hours, from 8 to 11 in the morning, and from 3 to
6 i❑ the afternoon, the daily trains will be as under :
Trains every five minutes, or per hour 12 by 14 = 168
Additional trains per hour Bby 6 = 4i

Each way by 2=435 trains per diem.
"-The average take on the main line of the Blaokwall
Railway is 7s. per mile per train ; then
433 trains by 4, the mileage,=l,723; and is. the take
per mile=-6011. 16s. per diem.
Which, at 3d. each would be 43,381 passengers—less than
the estimated present number of omnibus travellers, with-
out cabs or increase.

Per Annum
6011. 165., the daily receipts, by 313 = £189,3t: 8s
Two-thirds of the above receipts as the
Sauday traffic, := 4531. 4s. by 52 =---

29.966 8t

£,219,268 16s,

"A second great source of profit will be found in the
goods traffic, to be carded chiefly by night, passing to and
fro between the Great Western, the Loudon and North-
Western, and the Great Northern Railways, and the ware-
houses and depots which these great companies will erect
for themselves in Clerken well, Smithfield, and elsewhere
in the heart of the City with this line. The site of the
House of Correction, a square block of land of 63 acres,
presents, when connected with the groat railway systems,
the opportunity of carrying on a coal traffic of very far
greater magnitude than the London railways have as yet
developed. Indeed the most competent judges have given
it as their opinion that the Metropolitan Railway might.
be worked to great profit if devoted exclusively to the con-
veyance of goods.
" The third great source of profit to the Metropolitan
Company will be the facilities of interchange of traffic with
the three great northern and western 'railways, and their
numberless tributuries. Looking at these various sources
of traffic, and at all the circumstances of this very re-
markable and promising undertaking, it is not too much
to anticipate that it will prove a striking exception to the
general experience of railway enterprise, and prove as pro-
Citable to the company as it will undoubtedly be useful to
the inhabitants of this great city.
"The manifest advantages of the project secured in tht
first instance a very decided feeling in its favour on the
part of the public ; but the hesitation of the company, in-
duced no doubt by the adverse aspect of the times, occa-
sioned much distrust, and has materially prejudiced them
for the moment in public estimation. The arrangement,
however, concluded with Mr. Ricardo, which insures the
speedy commencement of the works, and the energetic
prosecution of the undertaking, will dispel this passing
shadow, and restore to the company that confidence which
is alone wanting to complete the measure of its success."