The Roanoke times. [volume] (Roanoke, Va.) 1890-1895, 1893-07-29
ENGLISH TaAvgL EXPENSIVE.
why Rates by Rail For Passengers and
Freight Are So High.

why Rates by Ratl For Passengers and
Freight Arc So High.
The eminent English, railway author
ity, Mr.. Williem NJ. Acworth, points out
many causes for the differences between
railways i'll this country and the United
States. The higher rate of charges on
English roads are thus explained:
The very large capital outlay of Eng
fish railways is of course one main rea-
son of the high standard of rates and
fares in England. Exactly how high
that standard is we have no means of
knowing, for our railway statistics.
made up i'll IL form that was laid down
by an act of parliament about 30 years
back, carefully suppress the information
that it is most necessary for us to have.
Ton miles and passenger miles are not
here recorded. We know that each ton
of goods carried pays the railways on the
average about 90 cents. If we guess that
the average distance is about % miles, we
arrive at all average rate of 2.40 centsper
ton mile, which is not very far from
three times the average rate in the
United States. So in the case of passen-
gers we may guess that the average fare
is about 1.75 per mile, which though
lower than the American average, is
higher than in any European country
Such a result seems very far from salts
factory. High cost of construction might
have justified high range of rates and
fares at the outset, but year by year the
per mile Of line open increases in dem
sity, and yet the goods rates hardly come
down at all-in the last year or two their
tendency has been all the other way
while the passenger fares only come
down very slowly.
And yet the explanation is not far to
seek. Our services have always been ex-
pensive to work. They are becoming
more expensive year by year. In Amer
lea trainloads are mainly limited by the
capacity of the engines-ours by the
weight Of goods or number of passengers
that have had time to accumulate in the
very short interval between one train
and another. Let me illustrate: If
man is sailing from New York to Eu-
rope, he will choose his favorite line or
his favorite boat, regardless Of the time
of day or day of the week at which it
starts. On the other hand, if the Man
haitian elevated were to try to run its
trains only once in 10 minutes in the
slack hours of the day the street cars
would rob it of the bulk of it's passen-
gers.
Now, i'll England our business is all
between places which in America would
be regarded as close together. We call
Manchester 1.-the north of England" vet
Manchester is only IL hours from Lon
don. Consequently there must be trains
between the two points at all hours of
the day, to suit the convenience of pas
scnGers wanting to go mt any time. Con
seQuently, too, each train runs with very
much less than trainload of passen-
gers. Then these trains must he run at
high speeds. for though a few minutes
more or less are of little importance in Il
journey of hundreds of miles. quarter
Of an hour out of four hours is ii very
considerable percentages. High speeds
mean few stops, and few stops mean adj
ditional trains to serve the second class
stations. Then high speeds and frequent
expresses for passengers mean high
speeds and short trains for good-that
is, half loaded-engines, for an engine
loaded to its full capacity moves so
slowly-occupies the line, that is. for so
long Il period-that it is impossible to
find room for it.
But it would not be true to say that
the goods are worked at high speed sim
ply for the convenience of the railway
management. On the contrary, the de-
msind for speed in the case of nerchan-
disc traffic is fully abreast of that in the
case of passengers. Broadly, it NAV he
sand that the English goods service is
based on the suppostion that, between
important towns at least, whatever is
handed to the railway company mt the
forwarding station over night will be de-
livered to the consgnee the first thing
next morning. Now, IL service such as
this, IN the nature of things. can never
he cheap one. engineering Magazine.
Two Hundred Inches of Rainfall.
n.r,.., D,,nii in, I.