28 DECEMBER 1850, Page 10

RAILWAY ADMINISTRATION : MORE BLOOD r` PUBLICITY in the first

instance, -andestrieter discipline in the neat —these are the two things which' we' have harped upon as most necessary to the much-needed reform-of railway administration ; and the incidents of the week confirm that• view.

" An Annual Subscriber to the North Kent Railway " complains' to the Times, that the sole account in that journal, copied-front the Globe, of an accident on the railway which the writer uses,. had evidently been furnished by the Company ; and that it is- incorrect : instead of " btuises and slight scratches," there were " serious injuries." ; and the true cause of the accidett is- not stated—it was a collision, The subscriber imputes the- collision to the fact that " one and the same line of rail is used towards the London. Bridge terminus for both the down- Greenwieh and North Kent Railway trains as the up North. Kent trains run upon, and thus, from the inadequate space at the London Bridge end for the traffic of both the lines, sub- jects persons travelling on this line to more than ordinary den-- ger, and over which the public has no control." Now shall we ever have a fail statement of this disaster ? If we judge by precedent, we should say not. The Eastern Counties Railway has added two bad collisions to the long list : they happened during the fog on Monday night, one at Stratford, the other at Brick Lane. We are assured. that " the company adopted every precaution to insure the safe transit of--• trains "; but the narrative disproves the friendly assertion. Jai stopping train from London to- Hertford set out at half-past four o'clock, and of- course the Company that took "'every" precaution" foresaw the effect which the fog must have. Fog oel,1 casions three causes of danger. It makes the rails slippery; inv consequence of which, trains travel less fast, especially when th ct are heavy, because the driving-wheels do not bite so we Secondly, the slipperiness also causes the breaks to bite less effect' tually ; is consequence of which, a train takes longer to stop and. travels 'over a greater range in. stopping. Thirdly, the range oft vision is shortened. From these three causes, the driver cannola see se well what is before him.;: a slow train will be slower ; air swift train more difficult to stop. Notwithstanding these Imovat sources of danger; a faster train- was despatched with no moist' probably less, than the usual interval of fifteen minutes, and withe" out any knowledge as to the progress of the antecedent train-. 110 eteliiettneeee viat4 flitiOthielii liWif77trein - at Sfitiitford; . Theltif* arrived' Oriel-4 6 about half an hour after its ; ile,,•Tiad 144-4,, . , , • e g . eau- tiOnaly" :, the NorwiCli, &$,' into it."-"Tti. ell thekeiteei- ' ' Parriages were's 4001#46‘4410, topassengers

100611o:1: '' It la 7evid t 'tt '-"' everyprectiu on" was taken;; It iti f,A ,:thattitipitel oftli4:knosen predispos-

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OT?antecedent VeirbIF- to easy, e t1p. lines w gre there is an etric teleg-raph, tp enforce a. t.. 0 trait i'S uld4eiiiiiet ; Mite the antecedent had passed he station next- beyond: Untilimeli a rule be •enforeed, or one equally effective, we cannot admit that "every precaution "'has been taken. All experience proves hew necessary it is, and how possible, that the traffic on any one line. of rail should' he reduced to an exact mtem, as orderly as the planets.. Equally clear is it, that blood- shed, maiming, and death, do not impress railway companies-with that-absolute necessity. Their own rules need revision ; and also they need more effective control over their servants. The North- western Railway was recently the scene of a. fatal, collision ; we now see it the scene of a, threatened. strike among its servants.. The threet not only-proves how precarious is the tenure on which the whole communication of the country depends, but also how imperfect is the command which the companies have over their servants: Into the merits of the threatenedistrike we .de not enter;. beitthe broad; fact is before us, that the servants engaged,in carry- ingeut a system on the exactness of-which depend the convenience of rte country, the safety, and; life of paseengers, are not under an efibctiee control: Companies may needgreater powers; it is evi- dent that they. need a more impressiVe.senee i of the own duties :

butt fear that neither discipline nor duty will be enforced until Government and Parliament revise the whole railway system.

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