"To the Editor of the SPECTATOR.] SIR, —While everyone must sympathise
with the request of " Jab " for more week-end facilities for cheap travel which was published in your issue of January 24th, there is much to be said from the point of view of the railways. They are suppliers of transport, and like the suppliers of other ser- vices and commodities their chief difficulty lies in the unequal demand. They have a certain reserve of power, but it is to the interests of economical travel that the traffic should be spread as much as possible over the whole week. A main- line engine represents a capital value of L7,00Q, a coach on an express train costs £4,000 to construct, and the employees work under an agreement which guarantees them a minimum of employment for a week. To call this costly apparatus into being for one day -without _adequate use on other days would entail a serious loss. Last summer it was by no means infrequent to read of Saturday trains to popular resorts being run in triplicate. One railway company has announced that it is only able to keep its fares at their present level by a drastic overhaul of the time-table, so as to secure a more intensive programme of engine and coach working. The position is fairly obvious from a perusal of the published statistics. The last reduction in fares was not fully met by increased traffic. To issue cheap tickets generally available on Saturdays would add to the congestion while the expenses would be out of all proportion to the -receipts, and the loss would react on the whole situation.—I am, Sir, &c., 12 Radley Road, Wallasey, Cheshire. J. J. CLARKE.
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