The Sun.
London, England, 1845-03-24 00:00:00

RAIL WAY INTELLIGENCE.

REPORT OF THE RAILWAY DEPARTMENT
OF THE BOARD OF TRADE ON THE
SCHEMES FOR EXTENDING RAILWAY
COMMUNICATION BETWEEN LONDON AND
YORK, &c.
Railway Department, Board of Trade,
Whitehall, March 20, 1845.

The Board constituted by Minute of the Lords of the
Committee of Privy Council for Trade, for the transac-
tion of railway business, having had under consideration
the different schemes deposited with the Railway Depart-
ment for extending Railway Communication between
London and York, and the intermediate districts to the
east of the existing lines of railway, have determined cn
submitting the following Report thereon, for the con-
sideration of Parliament.

The following is a List of the Schemes in question,
showing the number of miles of railway proposed to
be constructed in each case, and the estimated cdpital.
L—lntegral Schemes for effecting a new and independent
Communication from London to York.
Length. Estimated
• Capital.
and York
. Miles.
18 • 6,500,000
Direct Northern
185 52 • 4,000,000
IL—Sehemes for effee,ting. a. new Communication be-
tween London and-York, in connexion with existing'
Railways.
Length.
Estimated
• • •
-- Capital.
Miles. Chains. £
Cambridge and Lincoln B3 20 ' 1,250,0009
Tottenham and Farringdon-street

Extension V 5 16 800,000
Midland Railway :
Swinton to Lincoln, Boston, and

March
Lincoln, York, and Leeds B3 42 1,400,000
York and North Midland to Don-

caster
111.---Schemes more or less connected with the above,
for supplying East and West Communication, and local
accommodation to the intermediate districts.
Length. Estimated
Capital.
Miles. Chains.
Bedford, and London and Bir-
mingham
Eastern - Counties—Hertford and

Biggleswade Branch
Eastern Counties—Cambridge and
Huntingdon
Ely and Bedford 43 270,000
Midland Rail way—S,ys ton to
Peterborough
Midland Railway— Nottingham
to Lincoln
Newark and Sheffield 32 GO 500,000
Manchester and Sheffield, and
Midland Junction (Sheffield to

Chesterfield) l2 14 400,000
Sheffield and Lincolnshire 52 29 700,000
Rotherham, Bawtry, and Gains-
borough
Great Grimsby and Sheffield s 60 48 600,000
Hull and Gainsborough 29 72 270,000
Wakefield, Pontefract, and Goole 30 73 365,000
Barnsley and Goole
Goole, Doncaster, Sheffield, and
Manchester
York and North Midland and •
Goole
Goole and Snaith : 5 27
It will be seen from the above list, that the question
upon which we have. now to report involves the con-
struction of upwards of 1,200 miles of railway ; an
amount not much less than that of the whole of the
railways in the kingdom already in existence, and the
proposed investment of upwards of 20,000,0004 of capital.
We have approached the subject yrith a full sense of its
importance, and of the responsibility which is imposed
upon us in expressing any opinion upon questions of such
magnitude; and we have now to report the conclusions
at which we have arrived, after most anxious and delibc-
rate investigation.

The leading objects which arc proposed to be accom-
plished by the schemes under consideration may be
classed under two heads, viz.:--

Ist. To extend the benefits of railway communication
to the large portion of England which lies intermediate
between the London and Birmingham, and Northern and
Eastern Railways, and to the east of the Midland and
York, and North Midland Railways.
2d. To form a new trunk line from London to York
and the north, by the east of England, more direct than
the present circuitous route by Rugby and Derby.
Tile former of these objtcts appears to be decidedly
the more important. In our report on the projected
railways in Scotland, we have already stated our reasons
for believing that, owing to the interruptions occasioned
by the Firths of Tay and Forth, the eastern line can
never become the principal trunk line of communication
between Scotland an 1 England. In the event of the
Caledonian and Scottish Central lines being sanctioned
by Parliament, the traffic of Glasgow, and of the whole
of the no. there, western, and central portions of Scot-
land with England, would pass principally by way of
Carlisle and the western route; and if the Trent or
Churnet Valley lines should be constructed, the distance
even from Edinburgh to London would be almost as
short by the western as by the shortest of the proposed
eastern routes.

The existing through traffic to London that would pass
over a more direct London and York line, is stated not
to amount to more than about 97,0001. a year ; and al-
though this amount may probably be increased by the
opening of new lines between Newcastle and Edinburgh,
yet, on the other hand, it must be remembered that a
larger proportion of the existing Scotch traffic now comes
up by way of Newcastle than can be expected to do so
ultimately, when both the eastern and western lines of
communication are completed.
On the whole, therefore, wo are not of opinion that
the probable importance or amount of the through traffic
between London and York would be sufficient to justify
an expenditure of several millions for the sole object of
shortening this communication by a few miles. At the
same time we consider it obviously desirable, for na-
tional as well as for commercial purposes, that the whole
railway communications of the metropolis with the
northern portions of the kingdom should not depend
upon a single trunk line ; and that, consequently, the
opportunity should be embraced now which presents it-
self of obtaining a good second trunk line to the north,
by a combination which: at the same time provides for
the local and lateral communications of the eastern
counties.

These general considerations appear to us to be suill-
cient to narrow the question considerably, by the ex-
clusion of two of tho principal schemes which cuter into
competition.

The Direct Northern, considered as an integral
scheme between London and York, has been projected
mainly with a view to the attainment of the shortest
practicable route between the termini, to which obect
the local accommodation of the district traversed has
been considered as secondary. Should Parliament be of
opinion that the construction of the most direct line be-
tween London and York ought to be considered as a
paramount object, the integral scheme of the Direct
Northern would deserve a preference. It reduces the
distance to 1761 miles,being 42 miles shorter than by the
existing route, and 91 miles shorter than by the proposed
London and York line. But for the reasons already
stated, we do not consider that a slight saving of dis-
tance between London and York would be a sufficient
compensation for neglecting the local accommodation of 1
the intermediate districts ; nor do we think that it
would justify the outlay of capital requisite for the con-
struction of such a trunk line as the Direct Northern.
On the other hand, the scheme of the Midland Rail-
way Company from Swinton by Lincoln, Boston, Spald-
ing, and Wisbeach, to March, is open •to the opposite
objection, that it entirely sacrifices the object of attain-
ing a tolerably good second line of communication from
London northwards. As part of a trunk line to York,
it is obviously inadmissible, since it would make the dis-
tance as circuitous as by the existing route by way of
Rugby, while, as a mere local line, although in itself it
might be useful, it is too long and expensive, and com-
petes too much with any possible trunk line through the
same district, to be allowed to stand independently. An
inspection of the map will be sufficient to show that its
extension is altogether incompatible with that of the
Cambridge and Lincoln line, to which it would be a di- '
rectly competing line for the greater part of its course,
while, as compared with the London and York scheme,
it would merely be an expensive substitute for the
" loop" or second line of that scheme, which diverges at
Peterborough and joins the main line again at Lincoln.
Even apart from other schemes, and considered merely
with reference to local purposes, this scheme also,
although in some respects it would bo advantageous,
would obviously be insufficient, since it merely skirts
the coast from Boston southwards, and affords no ac-
commodation to the important agricultural districts of
the interior.
Wo shall at once assume, therefore, that the question
may be narrowed by the exclusion of the Midland scheme,
and of the Direct Northern, considered -as an integral
scheme, and that the comparison rests between the Lon-
don and York, and the Cambridge and Lincoln, in con-
nexion with some scheme for completing the communi-
cation from Lincoln to York ; those two schemes alone
complying with what we consider to be the indispen-
sable requisite of uniting the two objects of promoting
local accommodation, and of affording u good trunk line.
As regards the latter object, we are of opinion that
the merits of the two schemes are very equally balanced,
and that either would afford a very good trunk line be-
tween London and York. The distance from London to
York, by the London and York scheme, is 186 miles ;
by the Cambridge and Lincoln (in connexion with the
northern portion of the Direct Northern, and with the
Tottenha►n and Farringdon-street Extension, which is
proposed as part or this combination), it would be 19:4,
miles ; the difference in favour of the London and York
being 9i miles. But on the one hand, the gradients of