The Sun.
London, England, 1845-04-08 00:00:00

DIRECT RAILWAY S.

The classification, by the Board of Trade, of railway
projects, including those which they have reported
against, as Well as those on which they have reported
favourably, is now complete ; and the various measures
will be fgrehwith referred to Select Committees of the
douse of Cdinmons. It is impossible to over-estimate the
importance- of railway legislation. It is a question of
great national interest, and ought, therefore, to receive
the most careful attention of Parliament. It is to be hoped
that the Committees will enter on the discharge of their
duties with a proper notion of the momentous in-
terests which are involved in railway matters.
There are other and higher considerations connected
with railways than those which relate to the claims
of rival companies. The great question of public
convenience is involved in many of the struggles which
are about to take place before Parliament, between the
promoters ofopposing projects. It were impossible to lay
down any specific principle for the guidance of the Legis-
lature, which would admit of universal application. There
are peculiarities incident to most projects, which
would prevent the application in all cases of principles
which apply in particular cases. But as, a rule, or ge-
neral principle, the view entertained by Sir Robert Peel,
and which he expressed ten or twelve days ago in Par-
liament, is undoubtedly the one which ought generally
to be acted on. The Premier laid down the proposition
that the lines which are most direct, and consequently
the shortest, ought to be preferred, unless where there
are peculiarities in the projected line which would jus-
tify a departure from the rule.
Whatever conclusion Parliament may come to on
this point, it is not to be denied that the country enter-
tains the same view as Sir Robert Peel. The direct
lines are everywhere the favourite lines. They are so not
only because in the nature of things they must be the
cheapest, but because by travelling by them there will
be a great saving of time. To most persons this is as
great an object as the saving of money. To
many,—to all whose avocations are numerous
or urgent, it is more. Supposing, for example,
that a person was proceeding from London
to York, and that he could get in four hours and a half
by either of the direct lines proposed between the two
places, while if he has to go by the circuitous route of
the Eastern Counties and the Cambridge and Lincoln
lines, he cannot accomplish the journey in less than six
hours, is it not evident that a saving of an hour and a
half in time would be a far more important object to
thousands of persons, especially to professional men, than
the mere saving of a few shillings—supposing there were
such a saving—in the charge for travelling ?
Let us mention another case illustrative of the de-
sirableness of adopting the direct drinciple. There
are two lines proposed for connecting Edinburgh, Glas-
gow, and England, by means of Perth, with Inver.
ness and the northern counties of Scotland. By the
Aberdeen route, the distance would be nearly seventy
miles greater than by the proposed direct line
from Perth to Inverness. It cannot for a mo-
ment be supposed that Parliament would prefer
the former line to the exclusion of the latter, and
thus compel the public to travel nearly seventy
miles out of their way, and that, tob, at a great addi-
tional expense. In many cases—and in `this one among
the number—local necessities may justify the construc-
tion of a circuitous route, but for all national purposes
the direct routes must be preferred. The public has a
right to demand this. Sir Robert Peel has again and
again expressed himself decidedly favourable to it, and
Parliament will, therefore, wo trust, acquiesce in its
adoption.
We dwell with greater earnestness and emphasis on
this point, because; if the direct principle be departed
from in one case; that will be pleaded as a precedent
for departing from it in another,, and thus a sere-
ous injury will- be inflicted on the community. We
do not say that there may not be cases in which,
owing to peculiar circumstances, a deviation from
the direct principle' may be justifiable, but such
cases must, in the nature of things, be very rare.
Direct routes •must necessarily not only be the most ex-
peditious, but the cheapest, and in all respects the best
adapted to afford accommodation to the public. Mr.
Thmpas Duncombe is abuut to bring forward a motion
to prevent. any further injury being done by the reports
of the Boaf(!rof Trade. It would be well if some Hon.
Member would summit a resolution to the Rouse, be-
fore the railway Bills are referred to the Committees,
pledging the House to a preference for the direct ,prin-
ciple.—Morning Advertiser.