The national era. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1847-1860, 1854-09-07
RAILROADS IN GREAT BRITAIE-THEIR MAN
AGEMENT,

GS~~~~~~~s@'
We make the following extracts from Ke-
port of the Railway Department of the Board
of Trade in England. We particularly eau
attention to the excellent regulations for the
prevention of accidents Il will be seen that
railroad companies are not permitted to treat
human life as of no consequence in comparison
with their dividends. As consequence OF the
precaution which is taken, ehe proportion OF
accidents and of deaths is fat less than in this
country.
"The total length of railV ~ that has been
authorized by Parliament, to the end OF 1883,
il - 6s8 miles Of this numt er of miles 1856
have been opened for traffic, lie sving 5000 miles
TO be completed; but the cfmpulsory powers
of 939 miles have expired tithout being ex-
ercised or the railways beii opened, to the
end of 1853. The length of railways for the
construction Of which Parliamentary powers
exist is 2l64 miles The length of railway
opened previously to Decetnber, 1843, was
2,O36 miles The length orened in the year
1914 was 204 miles; in 1845, 296 miles; In
1916 6O6 miles; in 1847, 800 miles; in 1848,
1882 miles; in 1849, 500 miles; in 1850; 625
miles in 1851, 269 miles in 1852, 446 miles;
and in 1853, $50 miles - making the total
length then opened $50 miles, Of which 848
miles are in England, 995 in Scotland, and S43
miles in Ireland.
"Of the railways opened during 1853, TWEEN
ty-fve portions of railway, REPRESENTING total
length of 298 miles, consisteS of single line;
and it would appear that tb length of single
line open at the end of 1853 viz: 1,70S miles,
was between one-fourth an one-6fth of the
whole amount of railway oph-n. 1t is to be OBJ
served that the length of e,ngle line open at
the end of 1852 was ass niles, and at the
end OF 1851 1907 miles. A single line of rail
way cannot be worked with lafety, except I'M
der special regulations, go frs med as to prevent
the possibility of engines or trains moving in
opposite directions from NEE ing On the single
line; such regulations are, fSwever, ineonsist-
ent with large amount of af6c.
In all cases of single Ii. es opened during
1858, your lordships require generally either
that tho trains should be vi tked By means Of
one engine moving backws Ids and forwards
over the line, or over partict Tar portions of it;
or that some particular man hould be appoint
ed to accompany the trains moving over the
portions of single line. Al in cases where
the electric telegraph is in e, the regulations
required were that the per ons employed to
start trains should be distint ly responsible for
ascertaining, before startinf the trains, that
the line is clear as far as tho next station n n
"The general summary Of the result is that
since the year 1849, whilst II number of miles
over which the traffic is conveyed has increased
"a per cent, the number of passengers has in
creased 60 per cent, the rec .ipts from passen-
gers SO per cent, or from t 1875 per mile in
1849, to FL, 143 per mile in S53 the receipts
from goods have increased n per cent, or from
$3.50 per mile in lS49, to t 265 per mile in
1853; and the total receipts have increased
poa rlxy F-Cr - -,
1849, to f2, 4O8 per mile ii 1853. And the
increase Of tie traffic of 1853
over that of 1852 was greatet than that of 1850
over IS49.
at is worthy Of remark, that as regards the
traffic, the proper tomato increase in
the number of the lower C ass Of passengers
conveyed by railway is greater than that of
other classes, and the proportion which the
receipts from that class beor to the receipts
from other classes is creates for 1853 than it
was for 1849.
"The receipts from goods are also largely
increasing, and they bear every year an in
creasing proportion to passel ger traffic.
With respect to acoidenfA it appears that
IN 1852, 2l6 persons were iilled and 466 in
jured, on the railways in the United Kingdom,
out of o gross total of 89,155,729 passeD gers
Of these persons, 181 were k lied and Alb were
III II "Ol' AlA1Cu anu 81
ijuTed in Scotland; and IL we're killed and
injured in Ireland. In the Tear 1853, out of q
gross total Of lO2 .286, 600 pr ssengers conveyed
by the railways Of the Uni ed Kingdom, 3O5
were killed and 449 injured; of these, 2l3 were
killed and 800 injured in England; 81 wero
killed and 68 Injured IN Scotland; and rs wero
killed and IL injured in ireland.
{" 1t would appear that, in the year 1852, the
proportion of the number o. passengers killed
and injured from causes beyond their own con-
troll to the total number of passengers carried
on railways, reduced for tho purposes Of COM
parison to the standard of, 100000, was in
England, IA killed and 4 3 f1jured per million
passengers conveyed; in scotland, none killed,
but So injured per million in Ireland, none
killed, bot 2 injured per u ,llion AID for the
United Kingdom, the propo ton of killed was
IL, and of injured about 2 per enc million of
passengers conveyed"