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THE h?.4lL LVA YS .-I .\‘D TffL S TA TE. 31 7
CBB~S being doubled; that stat,ions and other necessary works
are being extended at great cost; that the W ~ ~ Cof S milway
aervants are in many cases boing rnised rind hours shortsnod;
the tendency at least is always in the direction of itnprovement.
HOW, t.hen, do t,hc results bcooxne worse ? simply, ~9 I
think, because the eveis-growing traflic is overt&i1lg tho
capacit,y of the lines and works. Tho effect is felt during
these years, partly owing to the gonard activity of trade,
which increases all brauches of traffic, aud plRccs ~norloy in
the pockets of the people, enabling then1 to spmd Inore frocly
in travelling, and partly owing to tho introduct,ion of t.hirdclass
carriages iuto newly all trains, which measuro hr~s
amounted to n substantial reduction of fnrcs r m d extellsion
of accommodation. The silnplc fact is, that tunny parts of the
railway system are already worked beyond tllci~. sfdo capacity.
There are not a few stations where three hu1ldred tmim, or
more, pass in the twenty-four hours. JYhctl waitillg for LL
short time st some of the great juuctions, such 3s those of
Crewe, Chester, Willesdon, etc., I 11ave often wo~liloroil at the
system of management by which trains aro successfully loaded
and despatched every few minutes, and tmffic of tho most
complicated description is regulated alu~ost without a hitch.
But, if tra5c cont,inuously increases, there must also he 11
continuous increase of station accommodution, sidings, spare
lines of rails, and othcr means of avoidi~g tllc interference of
one t,rain with others. It unfortunately 11:~ppcns thtlt the
reconstruction of great stations is a most costly work. ‘l‘ho
public would not be satisfied with stations ouhido of tho
towns, and the new stations aro for the most part situated
in the very centres of trade and city traffic, where land is
enormously expensive. The London and North-Western have
recently spent half a million in the enlargement of tho Limo
Street Station at Liverpool, and beforo long they will have to
spend nearly as much in a thorough reconstruction of ths
victoria Station at Manchester. In both towns other largc!
and central stations are in course of construction. Of the
vast expenditure upon the numerous largo metropolitan
stations it is hardly necessary to speak. Allowing that the
cost of travelling is somewhat higher in this country than on