The Sun.
London, England, 1845-01-14 00:00:00

D IRUCT NORTHERN RAILWAY from
LONDON to YORK by LINCOLN.
STATEMENT OF THE CASE AND MERITS OF THE ABOVE
LINE OF RAILWAY.

When ass Direct Northern Railway was first announced to the
public its promoters pledged themselves to the principle of forming a
line of railway between London and York as direct as the nature of
the country would admit.
The announcement ofthis principle was most favourably received,
and assurances of support were given to the Committee by numerous
parties possessing influence on the line, and others practically ac-
quainted with the results ofrailway communication, who were desirous
of seeing this great means of public convenience and welfare, in this
instance, rightly applied. The direct principle claimed also the sup-
port of all that portion of the population of the United Kingdom north
of York, whose course of personal communication or of correspon-
dence lay through that city, and the Committee had great satisfaction
in finding this claim warmly responded to.
Since that period the Committee have been actively engaged in
perfecting the numerous preliminary details essential :for making
good their position as applicants for legislative sanction to their
measure. Until these were completed, and until the scope of the
various other schemes which have been recently proposed for esta-
blishing a communication by railway between the metropolis and
the counties of Lincoln and York could be precisely ascertained by
the deposit of the plans, the Committee felt that they could not
usefully call the attention of the public to the character of their
Undertaking. But now that the Committee have complied with
all the requirements incumbent on them, and that they are in
every respect prepared to prosecute their application to Parliament
at the commencement of the ensuing session, and since, also, the
competing schemes have been fully developed in all their details,
,they conceive that the time has arrived when it is their duty to
bring the particular merits of their proposal more prominently be-
fore the public, and to challenge a comparison between it and the
others which are in the field.
The principle above stated, of taking the most direct line to
York that the nature of the country admits of, has been steadily
kept in view, and the following results haVe been obtained :
The actual distance from London to York by the proposed line
is only 1761 miles, to Stamford 814, to Lincoln 121 i, to Gains-
borough 134, to Selby 165, and to 1-lull, by the proposed Gains.
borougn and New Holland line, 166. The main trunk at York is
carried onward by a bridge over the York and North Midland Rail.
way, and joins the Great North of England line at a point about a
iind half beyond the city of York, for the purpose of avoid-
ing the detention that now occurs to onward passengers, whether
proceeding north or south.

This mode of crossing the York and North Midland line has been
adopted in conformity with the following recommendation con.
tain,d in the fourth report of the Railway Commissioners in 1841
(P. 43) :—" We consider it improper that the traffic of any new
line should open upon the York and North Midland Railway, with
which so many lines are already in connexion as to render delay un.
avoidable, and collision not improbable. In consequence of the
numerous trains of luggage and passengers using this line nearly
two hours are sometimes occupied in passing over a little more than
thirty miles from York." Notwithstanding the opinion thus de-
cidedly expressed, the proposed competing line of the London and
York comes upon the Yorsc and North Midland Railway in the
very mariner objected to by the /tailway Commissioners as likely to
lead to danger and certain to cause delay.
The Direct Northern line supplies the benefit of railway inter-
course to a very large district of country intermediate between the
midland counties and the sea, which has hitherto been left unpro_
vided in that respect; and takes its course through nearly the
centre of that district at a distance varying from eighteen to forty
miles from the lines proceeding north from Rugby. It Cannot,
therefore, be held to interfere needlessly with the interests of these
lines, which, although they have conferred great benefits on the
wealthy and populous districts they connect, were not originally
intended to be carried to York, and cannot consequently be re-
garded as furnishing such a communication as in the due applica-
tion of railway power the public have a right to expect.
The subject should be considered also in relation to cross lines
or branches which may now or may hereafter be proposed to tra-
verse the same country as the Direct Northern, and to become con-
nected with it,
trunk as the progress of industry and of population may
on this require, and point the Committee believe that the best main
having been rightly chosen on the principle of direct
communication, line
munication, that principle will be found to afford every facility
for the advantageous working
and connexion of such lateral lines
oTrhbisran.ches as the amount of local traffic may hereafter demand.
branches, subject—viz., the relations of probable future
and they
lion of laterre
received the serious consideration of the Committee,
best advantage prepared to promote and to co-operate in the forma-
bayndothceorst
lines, so as to arrange them with the main line to the '
to the local and to render the communication, both direct and
lateral, as perfect
regards timye as Possible. But they do not propose to sacrifice
(which may
.of meansth
eb
lea pr
gr oe vmi
as
of a town of a few thousand inhabitants
daedssefsoor)f,
Nth
and be pouilnattieornestths,abtoltihe
at
st
beyond the termini of • •
Committeethe line On this ground the Provisional
confidently •
of England, and fro rely on receiving from the northern counties
and support, m the whole of Scotland, cordial cooperation
The
demonstrat gradients are of a very favourable description, as the section
es, and they are obtained at a moderate expense. The
tunnels will be four in number, the longest being 1,450 yards in
length, and the aggregate length of the whole four less than one
mile and two-thirds. No engineering works of great magnitude or
difficulty occur, ornamental property is avoided, and the drainage
of the fen country will not be interfered with. The gunge will be
the same as that of existing railways north of London, and the
line being fur its whole length under one management, a higher
average and more equal rate of speed may bo attained and ren-
dered compatible with safety, than can exist on lines where the
frequent change of Companies renders vexatious delay unavoidable,
superintendence difficult, and responsibility incomplete. Wher-
ever the Direct Northern may be connected with other lines, every
arrangement that experience has pointed out, or that a careful
study of the question can suggest, will be adopted to ensure the
safety and convenience of the public.
It is without doubt a most important consideration in regard to
safety as well as speed that the control and arrangement of the
traffic of a line of great magnitude should be subjected to one go-
verning body, as ha, been most forcibly urged in a communication
made to the Railway Commissioners by the Directors of the London
and Birmingham Railway Company. (See Fourth Report of Rail.
way Commissioners. IS4I. Appendix, page 10.)
In regard to the cost of working, it needs no argument to prove
that, where gradients are the same, the shortest line through a
given country will be the cheapest worked, and that if the capital
required for its construction he the same per mile, the shortest
line wily be the cheapest to the public.
The Committee believe that a general conviction now prevails
that, for the purpose of communication between the metropolis
and the north, a new and independent line of railway is required
between London and York, and they assume that such a work will
certainly receive the sanction of Parliament. It can be proved
that a better engineering line may be made to York 421 miles
shorter than that which at present exists; that by thus shortening
the distance, and avoiding the delays that necessarily attend the
transference of traffic from one line to another (the present line
belonging to four Companies), the time consumed in the journey
to York may be reduced from nine hours and upwards to less than
six hours, without any increase of speed, and likewise that the
fares and freight of goods may be considerably lowered. These
facts appear to the Committee to be conclusive in favour of their
undertaking, and they look to public opinion to confirm and support
their views,
In comparing the proposed Direct Northern line with other
schemes, the following moat important fact should be kept in
view, viz.:—Every additional mile of railway distance is equivalent
to a tax amounting to the fare charged per mile for every passenger
and ton of goods conveyed, that is to say, approximating on an
average to Od. per mile each way, besides the time lost in the transit.

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It is thus clear, that upon the amount of traffic which on the
Brost moderate estimate will pass over the line, an impost on the
public of many thousands per annum (independently of the sacri-
fice of time to passengers, and of delay in the transmission of
mails) would be perpetuated by any needless elongation of the line.
Another consideration will present itself to parties who are inte-
rested in existing railways, an shonld be kept in view by those
disposed to invest their property in new ones, viz., that lines which
are circuitous, and therefore capable of improvement, and liable
to he interfered with by other parties, must become depreciated in
value whenever public accommodation may demand that improve-
ment, and that consequently lines on the direct principle alone can
be regarded as a permanent property.
A striking illustration of the progress which the direct prin-
ciple is making, and of the importance of saving a few miles on
the main line of a railway, is most opportunely afforded by the

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