The Sun.
London, England, 1845-04-02 00:00:00

RAILWAY INTELLIGENCE.

REPORT OF THE RAILWAY DEPARTMENT OF
THE BOARD OF TRADE ON THE SCHEMES
FOR EXTENDING RAILWAY COMMUNICA-
TION TO PORTSMOUTH.

Railway Department, Board of Trade,
Whitehall, 31st March, 1845.
The Board constituted by the minute of the Lords of
the Committee of Privy Council for Trade, for the
transaction of railway business, having had under con-
sideration the several schemes for extending railway
communication between London and Portsmouth, and
in the intermediate district, viz., the Brighton and
Chichester—Portsmouth Extension ; the Direct London
and Portsmouth; the Guildford, Chichester, Portsmouth,
and Fareham Branch ; London and Brighton—Horsham
Branch ; London and Portsmouth, with branches to
Shoreham•bridge, Fareham, and Reigate, have deter-
mined to submit the following report thereon for the
consideration of Parliament :
Portsmouth is too well known to render it in the least
necessary for us to enlarge on the desirableness of giving
to it an east and west communication along the coast, as
well as a more direct connexion with London than it at
present possesses, by means of the Gosport and Bishop-
stoke Branch of the South-Western Railway. To effect
these objects, the following railway schemes have been
projected, viz. :
The London and Portsmouth, with Branches to
Shoreham•bridge, Fareham, and Reigate.
The Direct London and Portsmouth.
The Guildford, Chichester, Portsmouth, and Fare-
ham Branch.
The Brighton and Chichester—Portsmouth Exten-
sion.

A. ußbinuthu anal:Jam:ion nas not equalled the expecta-
tions which were formed by the original projectors of
the South-Western Railway according to the statements
made to Parliament when its sanction was obtained to
make the branch from Bishopstoke to Gosport. It has
been alleged that the traffic 'would have been much
greater if the projectors had carried the branch into the
town of Portsmouth, instead of only to Gosport, since
much inconvenience and delay arise from the necessity,
of using the floating bridge to cross Portsmouth Har-
bour ; but as there are four companies in the field to
effect these communications, in a greater or less degree,
and the returns of traffic which they bring forward are
sufficient to show an expectation of a moderate profit,
we may assume that the question is reduced to one of
preference between the competing schemes.
The London and Portsmouth scheme, which has been
termed for the sake of brevity and distinctness,
" Stephenson's Line," is the same, or nearly so, in its
general character, with that which Mr. Robert Stephen-
son originally projected between London and Brighton,
and which was rejected by Parliament in favour of the
line now in use. This line, leaving the South-Western
Railway near Wimbledon, passes close to Leatherhead,
through the valley of the Mole, to Dorking; it passes a
mile to the westward of Horsham, near which it throws
off a branch to New Shoreham; the main line being
continued by Arundel, Chichester, Havant, and Ports-
mouth.
The Direct London and Portsmouth Railway is pro-
posed to be worked on the atmospheric system, being in
fact a continuation of the Epsom and Croydon line, for
phich a Bill was obtained last year. From Epsom it
take: a course by Leatherhead through the Valley of
the MoL: to Dorking, whence it proceeds by Godalming,
Haslemere, .Peterstield, and Havant, to Porstmouth.
In the session:of last year an Act was obtained for the
purpose of making a railway from the London and
South-Western Railwa;., near Woking, to the town of
Guildford, its length beZng six miles. The South-
Western Railway Company having made arrangements
to purchase this Guildford Railwoy, and to continue it
by Godalming to Chichester, and from Chichester by
Havant to Portsmouth.
The Brighton and Chichester Railway Company,
whose works are in course of construction propose to
extend their line from Chichester to Portsmoutk. These
companies, with the exception of the Direct Portsmouth,
also propose to complete the coast communication by
connecting Havant with the South-Western Railway at
Fareham.
In comparing the three schemes for giving direct
communication between London find Portsmouth, it is
necessary to observe that all of them axe of an expensive
character. Stephenson's line gives direct accommoda-
tioa to Horsham and to Arundel from London, but fails
to serve a wide extent of country which lies between its
proposed course and the South-Western Railway. Be-
sides, its branch to Shoreham would render it a directly
competing line with the Brighton Railway. And here
it is right to call the attention of the Committee on the
Bill to circumstances connected with the first formation
of the London and Brighton Railway. Three distinct
projects were in the field in the year 1837 to accomplish
this object. In order to enable Parliament to form a
correct judgment between them, a Government engineer
was directed to report on the competing schemes ; and
in consecienee of the report so directed to be made,
Parliament sZnctioned the line which is now in opera-
tion, to the exclas:.°ll of Mr. Stephenson's proposed line.
Since that time the .iiiiestion has been raised whether,
notwithstanding the repot: of the Government engineer,
the best line, under all the cirt:mstanees, was selected ;
but this is immaterial, as the proi.;:inent facts to be re-
but
are, the efficiency of the prese:t railwaP t;l2tl
..te.
what amount of protection its proprietors Ye fairly en
-
what
No fault can be found with the direct;less_ol:.eth.es
line or the speed at which the trains are run ; ant it, I.
generally acknowledged that considerable aFc M
With
exist, therefore, on the ground of inefficiency.
lion is afforded by the CompanY. No 9bjec°tion can
the views of Parlia-
claims, as they carried into effect
_.
~
hem-
srespect to protection, the Company havereas onable
elves safe, at any rate, from any competition with a
ment at an immense outlay of capital, belining tline which had been pronounced by the Legislature to
be worse than the one which they were obliged to adopt.
'if the established Company refused to extend accom-
,2 the/howocualsde.havTehneyo ground for foalrlicaonmeeplawiint buth
the
'-hester,no proposing to extend to
desire to make a branch to
nap such
r;:1: is so n not
and ..
Horsham, to give railway
Portsmouth ; and they
~net than is proposed
e Jamunication with the me-
tropolis in a mCorre-convenient ma:
Stephenson's line, which only comes
amililtehoefthattowii.
to be given by Mr.
Le radon and
within about
ga
circumstances of the Le
Brighton Company, it might appear hard on te2rn if
the proposed line of railway were permitted to corn,:
close to theirs, unless some great public advantage were
to be derived therefrom ; but in this instance no great
public advantage is perceptible.
With regard to the Direct London and Portsmouth,
and the Guildford, Chichester, and Portsmouth liiies,
the earthworks and tunnelling are fur beyond an average
with regard to extent and cost upon each. The differ-
ence between the two lines with respect to gradients is
considerable. On the direct Porstmouth the gradients
are very severe; the whole line is divided into 65 planes,
of which 10 are at 1 in 80, one of these being two and a
half miles, and the three others about two miles in length
—the whole amounting in the aggregate to fourteen miles
twenty-five chains: 19 planes, extending over sixteen
miles, 'are at 1 in 100, and the greater portion of the
remainder of the line is subject to a steeper gradient
than 1 in 200.
The South-Western scheme shows nothing steeper
than 1 in 100; at this gradient aro 4 planes extending
over four mile 3 seYenty chains; from 1 in 100 to 1 in 110