The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1836-05-24 00:00:00

FIFE JUNCTION RAILWAY

CIONNECTING the County of FIFE with the Counties on
the North side of the TAY, on the one hand, and those on
the South side of the FORTH on the other, thus forming a link
of union between the Ferries on the Forth and the Tay, by con-
necting the Dundee and Newtyle Railway, wit "ts-bratiches to
Cupar and Glammis, the Dundee Forfar, Arbroath Rail-
ways, present before Parliament, and teir intended exten-
sion of them to Kirriemuir, Brechin an Montrose, as well as

the proposed Railway from Dundee to Perth, with the great
Railways on the South of the Forth, particularly the Edinburgh
and Glasgow Railway—the Edinburgh, Haddington, and Dun-
bar Railway—the Edinburgh, Leith, and Newhaven Railway,
and the Edinburgh, Dalkeith, and Leith Railway ; and being
a branch from the great Trunk Raihvav proposed to be ex-
tended from London by York to the Scottish metropolis.
The advantages of a Railway connecting together districts of
the country so very populous and advancing, and passing
through a highly cultivated line, fertile in its agricultural, and
abounding in its mineral productions, are too apparent to re-
quire to be commented on.
Indeed it is difficult to select a portion of country of equalex-
tent in the kingdom, which presents so many facilities and ad-
vantages for a railway communication as the country betwixt
the Fife and Tav ferries. The intercourse between Fife and the
Lothians on the south, and Forfarshire on the north, is even at
present very great; and some idea of the extent of the increased
communication may befornned, when it is considered that during
the year 1835 there were upwards of 75,000 passengers between
Newhaven and Burntisland, Pettyour, and Kirkaldy, and up-
wards 31,000 between Newhaven, Dundee, and Aberdeen, &e.
The quantity of goods which would be carried along a railway
connecting the two ferries would be very considerable. The
manufactures of Dundee and of the other towns on the lines of
The railway on the north, would be brought to the markets in
the south in a cheap and speedy manner; and the articles of
commerce sent from the south being carried at a comparatively
cheap rate would find a ready market in the populous and flou-
rishing towns of Dundee and Perth.
Looking at the internal resources of the county of Fife alone,
abounding as it does in coal and limestone, a very considerable
traffic might fairly be expected, when the want of these articles
on the north of the Tay is considered. There are at present
imported into Dundee about 300,000 tons of Scotch coals annu-
ally. If a cheap and speedy communication by a railway through
the coal district of Fife was formed, the greater part of this large
quantity might be fairly calculated upon as a part of the railway
traffic. There are likewise upward of 100,000 bolls of lime im-
ported into the ports of Perth and Dundee, besides importa-
tions into the intermediate ports.
Impressed with a consideration of the great advantages to the
country at large, which the formation of a railway between the
Fife and Tay ferries would produce, it has been resolved by a
number of gentlemen to endeavour to carry it into effect,, and
that as promptly, economically, and beneficially for the share-
holders and the public as its great accessibilities will admit.