STATE OF RAILWAY AFFAIRS REPORT OF CAPTAIN SIMMONS TO TILE

RAILWAY BOARD.

The annual report of the proceedings that have taken place in respect of railways in the year 1851 has been laid before the Committee of the Privy Council for Trade by the Commissioners of Railways, and has re- cently been published. It is remarked, that the railway communication increased rapidly from 1843 to 1848; but that since 1848 the annual increase diminished, until in 1851 it fell below the increase in any of the years since 1844—it was only 269 miles. The whole extent of railway communication open for traffic in the United Kingdom at the end of 1851 was 6890 miles ; which are distributed in the different parts of the kingdom in the following proportions.

In England and Wales 5306 In Scotland 960 In Ireland 624 Total in the United Kingdom 6890 miles open for public traffic."

At the end of 1851 there were 5101 miles of railway remaining to be completed ; but by the expiration of powers granted for the compulsory purchase of land, this number is reduced to 3888. " From examination of the various acts authorizing the construction of railways, and of the warrants issued by the Commissioners of Railways under the Extension of Time Act, which was passed in 1847, (11th Vic. c. 3,) it appears that the powers for the compulsory purchase of the necessary lands have been allowed to expire during the year 1851, to a further extent of 2418 miles.

"The other powers necessary to enable the companies to proceed with the construction of these 2418 miles, however, are still in force ; so that if the land had been or could be purchased, the companies might still construct the railways. The probability, however, is, that with respect to nearly the whole of these railways, the land has not been purchased, and that the railways will therefore never be constructed under existing acts of Parliament. If this be so, it would appear that there do not remain more than 1500 miles for the construction of which Parliamentary powers are now in existence : and as 12,317 miles were authorized by Parliament, 6890 have been opened, and only 326 abandoned by the authority- of Parliament, it would appear that about 3600 miles have been abandoned without the direct sanction of Parlia- ment, and without a corresponding reduction by the authority of Parliament of the capital which the companies are empowered to raise for their con- struction.

" From the latest returns which have been presented to Parliament rela- tive to the capital of railway companies, it appears that at the end of 1850, railway companies had raised, either by shares or loans, a sum equal to 240,270,7461., and that they retained powers to raise a further sum of 122,431,900/. It appears also, that at the same date there were 6621 miles of railway communication open, 867 miles in course of construction, and 4472 not then commenced.

"This sum of 122,431,9001. would therefore represent what remained of the capital authorized to be raised by act of Parliament to complete the 867 miles in course of construction, and the 4472 miles not then commenced. "But as it appears by what has preceded, that 3600 miles, the construc- tion of which has been sanctioned by Parliament, have not been, and will probably never be constructed under existing acts of Parliament, it may reasonably be inferred, that of this large sum of 122,431,9001., but a com- paratively small proportion will ever be applied to the railway purposes to which, under the authority of Parliament, it was intended to be applied. "Tie sums raised annually previous to the year 1848 cannot be ascertain- ed; but since that period Parliament have required returns from the com- panies, from which it appears that the sums raised for railway purposes in 1848 amounted to £33,234,418 1849 ,,29,574,720 1850 ,, 10,522,967 The returns of the sums raised during 1851 have not all, as yet, been re- ceived; and therefore the amount raised for the last year cannot be stated."

"From a table which has been prepared in continuation of the similar table in the reports of the Commissioners of Railways of preceding years, it appears that the number of persons employed in making railways was 15,947 less on the 30th June 1851 than on the 29th June 1850; while the number employed on railways open for traffic has been increased by 3589; showing the persons employed upon railways to have been 12,358 fewer in 1851 than in 1850."

"As the Very rapid extension of railways consequent on the proceedings of the years 1845 and 1846 appears, from what has been shown before with reference to the capital of railway companies, now to be drawing to a close, the following comparative statement has been prepared with the view of ex- hibiting the fluctuations in the employment given by these extensive under- takings.

PERSONS EMPLOYED ON RAILWAYS.

On May 1, 1847 On May 1, 1848 On June 30, 1849 On June 29, 1850 On June 30, 1851 'Upon lines Annual open for iii,-;;;;,. traffic. crease.

47,218

52,688}

55,968 59,974 t 63,653 / Total increase...

Increase Balance

Upon lines in course of construction. decretute.

256,509

5 470

3 280 188,177 /

4 006 3 589 103,816 1

58,885 42,938

Annual

68,332 84,361 44,931 15,947 16,345 Total decrease 213,571 16,345 on lines open of decrease 197,226 "The general result shown by these tables is, that on the 30th June 1851, the number of persons employed upon railways, either in construction or working, was 197,226 less than at the corresponding period in 1847. It would appear, therefore, that in the interval which has elapsed this number of persons, who must have been withdrawn from other industrial occupations in consequence of the great demand for labour created by the impetus given in 1845 and 1846 to the construction of railways, had been again absorbed in other occupations, and obtain a living by other means.

"The reduction of labour, as divided between the three kingdoms, is as follows. The number of persons employed on the 30th June 1851 is less than on the 1st May 1847—

In England and Wales by 125,296

In Scotland by

49,306 In Ireland by 22,624 Total diminution 197,226 From this it will be seen, that the cessation of railway works has fallerr more especially upon Scotland, where the greatest proportionate reduction in the persons employed has taken place. "The number of persons employed in each country on the 30th dune 1851

was—

In England and Wales • 80,612 In Scotland 8,802 In Ireland 17,087 Total 106,501's An important section of the report contains the statistics of " accidents." In 1850, there were 32 passengers killed and 183 injured; in 1851, there were 36 killed and 375 injured. But out:of these 17 were killed and 20 in- jured owing to their own misconduct or want of caution; leaving 19 killed and 365 injured as the number of sufferers from causes beyond their own control.

" This result, giving a total of 374 sufferers, when viewed with reference to the number of passengers conveyed during the year, which amounted to 85,391,095, appears not unsatisfactory, being about 4 in 1,000,000 ; but when compared with the returns of the preceding year, (1850,) it appears that the traffic has not been conducted nearly with the same degree of safety in 1851 as in 1850 ; for while the number of passengers conveyed has increased in the ratio of about 17 per cent, the number of passengers injured by causea beyond their own control, which may be considered as a measure of the rela- tive safety upon railways during different periods, has more than doubled, the ratio of increase being 104 per cent. It will be found also' upon reference- to the last annual report of the Commissioners of Railways, that the casual- ties in 1850 more than doubled those that occurred in 1849; so that relatively the risk of danger in travelling upon railways appears to have considerably increased."

This increase in the killed and injured has occurred concurrently with the extension of the system of excursion-trains and the diminution of the number of persons employed upon each mile of railway open for traffic. The average number of persons employed upon all the railways in the United Kingdom open for traffic were on the 30th June 1849 10.27 per mile 29th June 1850 9.56 „ 30th June 1851 9.49 ,, The Commissioners have analyzed the reports of forty-one accidents, in. which 19 passengers were killed and 355 injured. "These accidents may be classified under two heads- 1. Those which arise from accidental failure of machinery, or from de- fects in the roadway or works. 2. Those which arise from defects in the establishment and management of the railways. This head may be further subdivided into A. Inherent defects in the system upon which the traffic is conducted. B. Defects in regulations. C. Inattention to regulations, or inexperience of servants. D. Want of punctuality.

"Of the 41 accidents that have been reported upon, 2 only appear to belong exclusively to the first class, while 25 belong to the second class, and in 14 are involved circumstances falling under both classes." "In four of the cases under the first head, it appeared that the locomotive stock was deficient, chiefly in consequence of the engines being overtasked ; in two of them, that the permanent way was out of repair; in one case a bridge had been partly taken down for alteration, without proper precautions having been taken to warn the drivers of coming engines ; and in one case the station accommodation was inadequate for the requirements of the traffie. which had developed itself upon the railway. "Under the division of what has above been termed the establishment of the railways, including its management and staff of servants, it appears that in 27 cases are involved circumstances which come under the Class A, in 13 cases are involved circumstances which come under the Class B, in 23 cases are involved circumstances which come under the Class C, and in 23 cases are involved circumstances which come under the Class D. Out of the 27 cases in class A, in which are involved defects that are inherent to the sys- tem upon which the traffic is conducted upon railways, it appears that in two cases the luggage placed on the roofs of carriages had taken fire ; in 24 cases collisions between trains had occurred, and of these 19 were cases in which trains conveying passengers had come into collision with trains con- veying goods ; four were cases in which passenger-trains had come in contact. with passenger-trains ; in one ease a goods-train with a goods-train ; and ire one case a passenger-train with a return-engine unaccompanied by a train. "The necessity that exists for trains to traverse railways at different speeds adapted to the particular descriptions of traffic conveyed by them, whether passengers, goods, or minerals, produces a liability to accident from collision, which is inherent in the system upon:which the traffic of railways is at pre- sent conducted, and from which it must be difficult, if not impossible, to free it.

"The facts as stated above appear, however, to point to the principal de- fect of the the system, viz, that merchandise and minerals are conveyed over the same lines of rails that are used for the conveyance of passengers." The report suggests that goods-trains should run in the night, sub- jected to time-table regulations ; that greater accuracy should be attained in the tables ; and that the most rigorous discipline should be enforced among the servants of the company. "Probably one of the best means that can be recommended for promoting- the safety of the public upon railways, is an extended use of the electric tele- graph; by means of which, the traffic upon a railway may be so worked that no two trams shall be upon the same part of the line between neighbour- ing telegraph-stations at the same time. All lines do not possess this ad- junct to their establishment ; which requires a considerable outlay of capital, and a large establishment of clerks. Upon some lines the telegraph-station B- are not sufficiently near to one another to allow of its being used for this pur- pose; so that, although the use of the telegraph may, no doubt, be very much extended, its adoption upon all lines, and its employment in the manner here described, cannot be enforced."

The traffic-returns are very striking. "The general results of traffic over all the railways in the United King- dom show that the aggregate number of passengers conveyed in 1850 amount- ed to 72,854.422; in 1851 to 8.5,391,095; being an increase of 12,536,673, or 17.2 per cent. "The gross receipts from passengers in 1850 amounted to 6,827,7611.; in 1851 to 7,940,764?.; showing an increase of 1,113,003/., or 16.3 per cent. "The gross sum received for the transport of goods amounted in 1850 to. 6,376,9071.; in 1851 to 7,056,6951.; showing an increase of 679,788/., or 10.6 per cent. "The gross revenue of all the railways arising from traffic of all descrip- tions, which in 1850 amounted to 13,204,6681., amounted in 1851 to 14,997,459/., or very nearly 15 millions; showing an increase in the receipt& for the year of 1,792,7911., or 13.5 per cent."