SOUTH-EASTERN RAILWAY.
GENERAL STATEMENT
OF
THE POSITION AND PROJECTS
OF
THE COMPANY.
1845-6.
LONDON:
PRINTED BY C. ROWORTH AND
BELL YARD, TEMPLE BAR.
SONS,
v. ECONOMICS,
¡f\vj i Otó, Üi G a
ÍKf EXuhau
South-Eastern Railway Office, London Terminus,
27th December, 1845.
The Directors of The South-Eastern Railway have con¬
sidered it desirable to place before the Proprietors a State¬
ment of the position of the Company, with reference to
the projects which it is intended to present to Parliament
in the next Session. In doing this, it will be necessary to
refer in some detail to past events, and to trace the pro¬
gress of the Company from an early date.
It is apparent to those who have the responsible
management of the affairs of this Company, that its inte¬
rests have suffered from the want of a full understanding
of its position and policy, and this more especially in the
districts through which a large portion of the proposed
new works will pass. Rival projects have arisen, and
misrepresentations have been put forth. The Directors
have hitherto abstained from any notice of these misre¬
presentations, being satisfied that the soundness of the
extensions which they should have to present would form
the best answer, and that the character of their policy
would be better exemplified by their acts than by any
professions in anticipation; but they consider that the
time has now come when a sense of justice to the Share¬
holders requires that an explicit statement of their position
should be made, in order to bring their case fully and
fairly before the public and the local interests of the dis¬
trict. With this view they are taking steps to have the
whole of the Evidence given before the Committee of the
b 2
( 4 )
House of Commons of last Session on the Kentish Lines
of Railway printed, feeling confident that its perusal will
afford the best answer to the misrepresentations of rival
parties, and will lead any unprejudiced mind to the same
conclusion as the Committee, by whom the competing
North Kent projects were unanimously rejected.
In the meantime, however, they think it desirable
briefly to recapitulate a few of the leading facts connected
with the position of the South-Eastern Company, in order
to enable their Shareholders, and the public of the South-
Eastern district, to understand distinctly and appreciate
the principles upon which they claim the sanction of Par¬
liament for the schemes proposed by them to complete the
South-Eastern Railway system.
The construction of a Railway through the County of
Kent was first projected in the year 1825, and surveys
were then made, and again in 1832 and 1835. Those
who have seen the South-Eastern District only under its
recent excitement on the question of Railway Communi¬
cation, can have little notion of the change of feeling which
has taken place on the subject since those dates.
The Promoters of a Railway from London to Dover ex¬
amined the country on the Northern side of the County.
The project met with no local encouragement from the
Towns, and with violent and almost universal opposi¬
tion among the Landed Proprietors. The system was
not understood either in or out of Parliament. The
powers of the Locomotive were little known, and it ap¬
peared that, to obtain in that direction the gradient then
considered as the maximum surmountable by the engine,
enormous expense must be incurred.
The capacity of a Railway to compete successfully with
parallel Steam Navigation had not been brought to the
test, and the results of such a competition were distrusted.
The passage of the Medway at Rochester was con-
( 5 )
sidered a.barrier almost insurmountable; and tbose wbo
had the guardianship of the bridge shrunk from even
communicating with a party who could be so wildly spe¬
culative as to propose a Railway from London to Dover.
Between Canterbury and Dover too, the Works (difficult
even now with all the intermediate experience) were con¬
sidered as entirely beyond the reach of any remunerative
scheme, and parks and pleasure grounds intervened, which
could not be avoided. To attempt to pass through these
with a Railway was, with the then state of feeling in Par¬
liament, too extravagant to be thought of. The force of
public opinion has long since brought such objections to
their true bearing, and it is difficult now to appreciate the
importance which attached to them in the early days of the
Railway System. They were sufficient, however, in 1832
and 1833 to extinguish the projects in that direction. The
period had not arrived for a Railway in North Kent.
The parties who promoted the South-Eastern Line en¬
tered on the subject after a considerable interval subse¬
quent to the abandonment of the early projects through
North Kent. They satisfied themselves that the true Line
for a Railway to Dover lay through Maidstone. Surveys
were made and the district was examined ; and, after these
steps, application was made to the principal landowners
along the Line. Deputations visited Maidstone and other
places in the district. They were, however, met here, as
on the northern side of the county, with the most decided
opposition. The leading parties in Maidstone almost una¬
nimously declared, not against the Line in question only,
but against any Line of Railway whatever through Kent ;
and throughout Maidstqne and the vicinity, after much
exertion, not a single individual could be found to support
the project, whilst for many miles in each direction, the
landowners combined to oppose it. These steps were
taken in 1834 and 1835, It is scarcely possible to convey
( 6 )
now an accurate idea of the ridicule and contempt with
which the project of any Line of Railway whatever to
Dover was at that time treated in Mid Kent.
In 1835 the London and Croydon Railway Bill passed.
The success of this measure before Parliament was ma¬
terially aided by the circumstance of its not affecting pre¬
judicially any important private property, and adopting
the Line of the old Canal, which had proved a failure.
There was at the same time, in 1835, a strong expression
in Parliament, that the country should not be " cut up"
in various directions by Railways, but that the existing
outlets should be adopted as far as possible. The Croydon
Railway was indicated as the outlet both for Kent and
for Brighton ; and the Promoters finding themselves ex¬
cluded by the local opposition from the more direct course,
decided on adopting the Croydon Railway and the Weald
Line, following out the principle then laid down, by
making it for the first distance out of London common
to a Line to Brighton.
The Projectors of the South-Eastern Line were from
the first aware of the imperfections of the Croydon Rail¬
way as a main outlet ; and they accordingly, in their first
plans, surveyed and deposited a Line from the South¬
western Railway to Croydon ; but on coming into Parlia¬
ment in 1836, they received from the then Speaker a strong
intimation that no second outlet would be permitted to
the South ; and acting on this intimation, they abandoned
the part of their project which lay between Croydon and
Wandsworth, and commenced their Line at the termina¬
tion of the Croydon Railway at Croydon.
The Line through Tunbridge and the Weald of Kent
was strongly supported by many of the most influential
landowners and the district generally ; and the inhabit¬
ants of the large towns north of the Line had at the first
too mean an opinion of the capabilities of a Railway to
( 7 )
view it with any jealousy. As the South-Eastern Com¬
pany proceeded and gained strength the subject excited
more attention, and the spirit of speculation which arose
in the spring of 1836 much contributed to this. Two
parties came forward when the Bill was before Parliament
with rival schemes, but although it was strongly opposed
on these and other grounds in its later stages, it passed
by a large majority.
The following extract from the Report of the Committee
of the House of Commons will illustrate the state of opi¬
nion, in 1836, on the subject of the Kentish Lines, and the
extent of accommodation which would be required.
" That the South-Eastern Line, independent of the
engineering advantages presented by the great
extent of natural level through the Weald of
Kent, appeared to your Committee to be superior
to both the said contemplated Lines* in its
essential features as connecting London with
Dover and the Continent ; that it traverses the
centre of the district between the Thames and the
British Channel in a line nearly straight, and level
for a distance of upwards of forty miles, where
no means of water communication exist; that
the agricultural districts in the Weald of Kent
are greatly in want of improved communications,
and that the Line of the South-Eastern Railway
forms a Main Trunk, which, from its central
direction, presents facilities of extension, by
means of Branches on both sides, not only to
most of the principal towns in the county of
Kent, but also to several important districts in
Surrey and in East Sussex, and to the southern
coast, the towns and fisheries of which will de¬
rive from it the most essential benefits.
* The Central Kent Line and the North Kent Line.
( 8 )
" That the Promoters of the Line called the ' Central
Kent Railway' failed in proving their caseto the
satisfaction of your Committee, in an engineering
point of view, and that such Line is, from its
direction, not calculated to afford such extended
advantages as the South-Eastern Railway.
" That the engineering Evidence on the Northern
Line, or Kent Railway, did not establish a case
in detail before your Committee ; but it appears
to be a Line which, as connecting the Port of
Ramsgate, and other large towns in the North
of Kent with London, and showing public
advantages, may, for such purposes, entitle it
to consideration hereafter, provided it could be
shown that such a Line may be accomplished
without insuperable engineering difficulty. But
your Committee do not, for the reasons before
stated, consider it eligible as a Line from London
to Dover."
The extent to which the principle of Parliament—that
what was then termed the unnecessary intersection of the
country by Railways should, as far as possible, be dis¬
countenanced—was carried in 1836, was most forcibly
illustrated in the House of Lords in that year, in the case
of Mr. Stephenson's Brighton Line, through Leatherhead,
Dorking, and Horsham. This Line had, after a severe
contest, been adopted by the House of Commons by a
large majority, but before it reached the House of Lords
the South-Eastern Bill had received the Royal Assent.
The mere suggestion of this fact—that there was a Line
recently granted, which passed for twenty miles South in
a direction which might be available for Brighton also—
was sufficient to induce the Lords to throw out the Bill
through Leatherhead and Dorking.
( 9 )
The same principle was in the instance of the South-
Eastern Railway carried to a still further extent in
1837, when the Brighton Railway Act (adopting the Line
by Croydon and Reigaté) passed. In this Act it is recited
that The Line of a certain intended Railway, called the
South-Eastern Railway, as already authorized by Parlia¬
ment to be made from the London and Croydon Railway
to Dover, by an incorporated Company called the South-
Eastern Railway Company, passed, for a considerable dis¬
tance, in a direction nearly parallel and approaching to the
Line of the said London and Brighton Railway, thereby
authorized to be made, and the last thereinbefore men¬
tioned Line might be made available for that distance for
the purposes of the traffic from London to Dover, as well
as to Brighton, by which, and by the abandonment of the
parallel portion of the Line of the said South-Eastern Rail¬
way, much expenditure of money and much intersection of
the country might be very advantageously avoided. And
it was enacted, that if the said South-Eastern Railway
Company, within the time therein mentioned, should be
authorized to divert their Railway, so as to form a Junction
with the Brighton Railway thereby authorized to be made,
the Brighton Railway Company should sell to the South-
Eastern the part of their Line North of Reigate, which
would be used as the outlet common to both.
In pursuance of this provision Parliament sanctioned an
Act, whereby the South-Eastern Line, which, as originally
laid down, passed independently through the Great Surrey
Chalk Range at Oxted, was diverted so as to form a
junction with the Brighton Line at Reigate. The passage
of the Chalk Range was thus effected through Merst-
ham, by a Line common to both. The distance to Dover
was, it will be seen, increased, but that was considered as
of no importance, as compared with the maintenance of
the principle above stated.
( 10 )
In conformity with, and upon the faith of the principles
thus laid down by Parliament, the Trunk Line of the pre¬
sent South-Eastern Railway was constructed from Reigate
to Dover.
The same principle of supplying the South-Eastern
district by Branches from the Main Line, as pointed out
by the Committee of 1836, has been further acted on by
Parliament, by sanctioning, in 1843, the Branch from
Paddock Wood in the Weald of Kent, to Maidstone ; in
1844, the Branch from Ashford to Canterbury, Ramsgate
and Margate; in 1845, the Branch from Ashford to Rye
and Hastings ; and in the same year that from Tunbridge
to Tunbridge Wells, and that from Minster in Thanet, to
Sandwich and Deal. The title and designation of the
Corporation, as the South-Eastern Railway Company,
shows distinctly what was intended. It was not a Com¬
pany for supplying railway communication between Lon¬
don and Dover only, but for the whole South-Eastern
district ; and a reference to the map will show that, by
the existing Lines of the Company, and those sanctioned
by Parliament and in course of construction, this object
has been in a great measure attained. Canterbury, Dover,
Deal, Ramsgate, Margate, Folkestone, Whitstable, Maid¬
stone, Ashford, Tunbridge, Tunbridge Wells, Greenwich,
and in fact almost every town of large population in the
district, except Woolwich, Gravesend, Rochester, Chatham,
and Faversham, are already provided with Railway com¬
munication by Lines of the South-Eastern Company. The
course, it is true, is circuitous in many instances, but this
was the defect of the times. The importance of the sys¬
tem was not then understood ; now it is understood, and the
South-Eastern Company seek to supply the deficiencies
which time and the progress of opinion have shown to
exist.
( Il )
Incorporated for these purposes, and acting under the
sanction of these Parliamentary decisions, the South-
Eastern Company have invested the sum of Four Millions
Five Hundred Thousand Pounds in the construction and
purchase of the various Works now in their possession,
which require a further outlay of Six Hundred and Twenty
Thousand Pounds to complete the Branches granted to
them by Parliament last Session. The position of the
Company with reference to existing Works is as follows.
Commencing at London Bridge the London and Green¬
wich Railway, and Works connected with it, have, under
Parliamentary authority, been leased in perpetuity to the
South-Eastern Company; and the Station of the Green¬
wich Railway at London Bridge is held by the South-
Eastern Company separately and distinct from the Joint
Station of the South-Eastern, Croydon and Brighton
Companies, which adjoins it on the south. The total
length of the Greenwich Railway is three miles and three
quarters. It was widened, under Parliamentary powers
granted in 1840, by laying down two additional Lines of
Rails on the south for the use of the long Lines. These
additional Lines are comprised in the lease to the South-
Eastern Company. The total cost of the Greenwich Rail¬
way and its appurtenances has exceeded a million ster¬
ling. The Bricklayers' Arms Branch and Station was
originally constructed at the joint cost of the South-
Eastern and the Croydon Companies. It is now the sole
property of the South-Eastern Company. It is one mile
and three quarters in length, and its cost has been Two
Hundred and Fifty Thousand Pounds.
The two main outlets from London up to the junction
with the Croydon Railway are therefore the property of
the South-Eastern Company.
From such junction to the point where the Brighton
( 12 )
Railway diverges near Croydon, a distance of about eight
miles, the Croydon Line is used under an agreement to
pay a proportionate toll according to distance. From
Croydon to Reigate, a distance of twelve miles, the South-
Eastern and Brighton Companies hold the Line in equal
half-parts; The first six miles, commencing from the Croy¬
don Railway, are the property of the Brighton Company,
and the next six miles, down to the Reigate Station, are
the property of the South-Eastern. Each Company has
the right to carry its traffic over the whole twelve miles,
without paying toll to the other. The South-Eastern
Company have paid to the Brighton Company one half of
the total cost of the twelve miles, amounting to upwards
of Three Hundred Thousand Pounds.
From Reigate to Dover, a distance of sixty-seven miles,
constitutes the Main Trunk of the South-Eastern Line,
passing througli Edenbridge, Godstone, Penshurst, Tun-
bridge, and thence through the Weald of Kent to Ashford,
Folkestone and Dover.
At Tunbridge the Branch to Tunbridge Wells com¬
mences ; the length is five miles. It was opened for
public traffic in October last.
From the Paddock Wood Station, six miles east of Tun-
bridge, the Branch to Maidstone turns off ; it is ten miles
in length, following throughout the course of the Medway ;
it was opened for public traffic in September, 1844, as a
single Line, but a double Line is in progress, and will be
complete in the spring of 1846.
From the Station at Ashford, the Branch to Canter¬
bury, Ramsgate, and Margate leaves the Main Line. This
Branch is thirty-three miles and three quarters in length ;
it follows throughout to the Isle of Thanet the Valley of
the River Stour, passing by Wye and Chilham to Canter¬
bury, fourteen miles and a half from Ashford ; thence to
( 13 )
Minster, eleven miles from Canterbury ; thence to Rams-
gate, four miles further, and thence to Margate, about
four miles. The Line throughout the Valley of the Stour
is almost entirely on the level, and the gradients are
excellent; the Line will be opened to the public in January
1846.
At Canterbury this Branch crosses the Station of the
Canterbury and Whitstable Railway. The South-Eastern
Company have leased this Railway (together with the
Harbour of Whitstable, which forms part of the Under¬
taking,) from the Canterbury and Whitstable Company.
The Lease contains a provision for purchase, which was
sanctioned by Parliament in the last session. The Line
is about six miles in length.
From the Station at Folkestone, the Branch to Folke¬
stone Harbour turns off; it is three-fourths of a mile in
length, and runs down into the deep water of the harbour.
The construction of these extensive works has been
carried on under circumstances of peculiar difficulty. The
pressure in the money market, which began almost imme¬
diately after the South-Eastern Company obtained their
Act in 1836, and continued for years, was felt peculiarly
by a Railway, which, from its position, was not calcu¬
lated to give an immediate return on the capital called
up. One of the main sources of profit calculated upon
has not even yet been realized, owing to the delay which
has taken place in the completion of the French Railways,
and after a lapse of nine years, and a present expenditure
of Four Millions and a Half sterling, the resources of the
South-Eastern Railway can only be considered as beginning
to be developed. After years of anxiety and depression, the
Proprietors are only beginning to receive a very moderate
return on the capital which has been invested in the
execution of this great national work.
( 14 )
The amount of benefit conferred upon the county of
Kent, and the community at large, by the South-Eastern
Railway scarcely requires to be illustrated.
The Rates charged for the Carriage of Goods have been
reduced to nearly one-half what they formerly were, and
although the Company became Carriers themselves only
on the 1st February last, nearly 100,000 Tons of
Goods have passed over the Railway during the last twelve
months, and it is certain that this Traffic is still in its
infancy. For Passengers the speed of travelling is three
times as great as it was, and the fare less than one-half.
The South-Eastern Company might perhaps have suc¬
cessfully advanced a claim to be protected from injurious
competition, at any rate until a longer time had been
afforded for the development of their system, and until
some more adequate remuneration had been received on
the capital invested under the sanction of parliament,
and from the expenditure of which such beneficial results
had accrued to the public. The Directors, however, have
taken a wider, certainly a more liberal, and, as they believe,
more politic view of the subject. They are prepared to
admit that a great advance has taken place in the views
of the public with regard to Railway communication, and
they are not disposed to raise the plea of vested interest
in bar to the fullest enjoyment by the South-Eastern dis¬
trict of the accommodation to which it is entitled. On
the contrary, they have felt from the first that it would
be unsound and impolitic for them to attempt to bring for¬
ward any imperfect scheme composed of Branches from
their existing Lines, or other secondary expedients, which,
although incomplete in themselves, might be sufficient to
prevent the execution by other parties of further or improved
projects; and that their only true security consisted in
identifying their interests thoroughly with those of the
( 15 )
public, by providing the best possible communications,
and the best possible accommodation, at the lowest pos¬
sible fares.
Acting on these views, the Directors instructed Mr.
Robert Stephenson to prepare for Parliament the most
perfect scheme which he could devise for completing, ac¬
cording to the present advanced ideas of the necessities of
the country, an entire system of Railway communication
for the South-Eastern district. The instructions were
ample, in fact almost unlimited. The Directors were con¬
vinced that the time had arrived for the completion of that
comprehensive system, of which this Company, nine years
ago, laid down the great backbone, and the full develop¬
ment of which had only bided its time.
The eminent engineer, on whose talents the Directors
have placed their faith, has, after the most careful exami¬
nation of the subject, prepared a scheme comprising the
whole of the South-Eastern district. The plans and other
necessary documents have been deposited, in compliance
with the Standing Orders of Parliament.
The following Statement, with the accompanying Map,
will show the extensions which he has recommended, and
the bearing which each of the proposed Lines has on the
others, and also on the existing Lines which form the
basis of the system. The Lines shown black on this Map
indicate the Lines belonging to the South-Eastern Com¬
pany which are completed ; those marked blue show the
Lines granted by Parliament and in course of construction :
and the red Lines show the projects now to be presented to
Parliament.
( 16 )
From Waterloo Road, near Hungerford Bridge,
to the Greenwich Railway, at the Crossing
of the Grand Surrey Canal.
The object of this Line is to form a West-End Terminus
for all the Lines in connection with the South-Eastern.
This Terminus will be formed opening on the Waterloo
Road, and also on the York Road, Lambeth, which will
bring it into immediate communication both with Waterloo
and Hungerford Bridges. It will connect the whole
South-Eastern System with the South-Western Line, and
through that Line and the extensions proposed by the
Birmingham and Great Western Companies, the last link
in the chain of connection will be established. The series
will be thus complete from Dover to Edinburgh, to Holy¬
head, and to Falmouth.
By adopting the Bricklayers' Arms Line, already con¬
structed, the expense of obtaining a West-End Terminus,
although necessarily great, will be much less than it would
be if sought by a new and independent Company ; and
the Directors do not think that the expense will be mis¬
applied when they consider the great amount of public
accommodation that will be afforded by providing a West-
End Terminus for the continental traffic. When Paris, as
will shortly be the case, is brought within a day's journey
of London, the saving of time in traversing the crowded
streets of the city will become a matter of great import¬
ance. The Terminus at the Waterloo Road is also ex¬
tremely important, if viewed only in the light of an ex¬
tension of the Greenwich Railway to the West. The
increase of traffic since the opening of the Greenwich
Line is enormous ; but it is still found, that, in consequence
of the position of the Station at London Bridge, the
Traffic from the West-end of London has scarcely felt the
( 17 )
influence of the Railway. There is no doubt, that a com¬
munication established with the West-End will bring a
great accession of Traffic, and afford material accommo¬
dation to the population of Deptford, Greenwich, Black-
heath, and Woolwich. The returns show, that, notwith¬
standing the vast increase by the Railway and the Cheap
Steamers from all parts of the River, the Traffic on the
Road from the West-End of London, to Greenwich, Black-
heath, and Woolwich, remains substantially the same as
before either Railway or Steamboat existed. The total
length of the Line from the Waterloo Road to the junction
with the London and Greenwich Railway at the Grand
Surrey Canal, is 3 miles, 7 furlongs, and 174 yards, of
which If mile passes over the Bricklayers' Arms Branch.
From the Greenwich Railway at Deptford Creek
and the Grand Surrey Canal, to Chilham,
near Canterbury, with Branches to Sheerness
and to Faversham Creek.
This Line is the North-Kent Line, as promoted by this
Company. The total length from the Greenwich Railway
at Deptford Creek to Chilham is 52 miles, 3 furlongs, 105
yards, and from the Greenwich Railway at the Grand
Surrey Canal to Chilham, 53 miles, 1 furlong, 213 yards,
the portion from Dartford to Chilham being comprised in
both. It is substantially the same as that presented to
Parliament last year, the variations, where any exist, being
improvements in detail suggested by more mature con¬
sideration, and for the avoidance of known local objec¬
tions.
Commencing at the Greenwich Railway, at the point
where the Line from Waterloo Road terminates, the North-
c
( 18 )
Kent Line of this Company proceeds through a portion of
Deptford-New-Town to Lewisham, thence by Eltham,
Bexley, and Crayford, to Dartford. From Dartford to
Gravesend the Line is substantially the same as last year,
but from Gravesend onwards to Strood, a lower Level is
taken, adopting the Line of the Thames and Medway
Canal, and Gravesend and Rochester Railway. This
Railway, having in the last session of Parliament received
the sanction of the Legislature to its conversion from a
Canal into a Railway, which is open for traffic, now ne¬
cessarily occupies an important position with reference to
the North Kent Lines, as being an existing Line so re¬
cently authorized, adaptable to the purpose of the Main
Project. Mr. Stephenson has therefore adopted it as a
portion of his work ; and arrangements are in progress for
the fusion of this Company with the South-Eastern Com¬
pany. The Gravesend and Rochester Line is 6 J miles in
length, and is throughout on a level. Nearly the whole
will be available as a portion of the South-Eastern North
Kent Line.
From Strood, where the Gravesend and Rochester Rail¬
way terminates, the Line proceeds across the Medway at
about 100 yards below the existing Bridge at Rochester.
The Wardens of Rochester Bridge have for some years
entertained a project of removing the Bridge, and erecting
a new one at a point lower down, which point would be
suitable for the Railway. It is proposed to form jointly
at this point a bridge, which shall answer the double pur¬
pose of the Railway and Road Bridge ; and the Directors
have the gratification of stating that the plan proposed
by Mr. Robert Stephenson on behalf of the South-Eastern
Company for this purpose has received the approval of the
Wardens, who will largely contribute to the cost.
Through Rochester and Chatham, the Railway proceeds
along the Marshes at the North side, and in the rear of the
( 19 )
Houses in the High Streets of Rochester and Chatham, with
provisions for convenient Quays and Landing Places along-
the River side, thence the Line proceeds under the High
Ground which separates Chatham from Gillingham by a
Tunnel 1219 yards in length, at a maximum depth of 163
feet. Thence by Gillingham, Milton, Sittingbourne, and
Faversham, to Chilham, where it falls into the Line now
just completed by the South-Eastern Company from Ash-
ford to Canterbury, Ramsgate and Margate.
From the Main Line above described at Lower Halstow,
near Sittingbourne, a Branch, 5 miles 7 furlongs 138 yards
in length, proceeds to Sheerness, and from the Faversham
Station a Branch 1 mile 1 furlong and 39 yards in length
will connect the Main Line with Faversham Creek, and
the Quays there.
Returning to the London end of the Line, it will be seen
that, from a point at the north end of Lewisham, a Loop
or duplicate Line, turns off, passing across Blackheath to
Charlton and Woolwich, and thence following the Low
Lands through Plumstead and Erith to Dartford, where it
falls into the first described Main Line. To this " Black-
heath Loop" (as it has been termed for distinction's sake)
is added, as an alternative, a Line in continuation of the
Greenwich Railway, which is laid down to pass under
Greenwich Park, and which falls into the Blackheath Loop
at Charlton near Woolwich. It is scarcely necessary to
state that it is not proposed to carry into effect both the
Greenwich Park Line and the Blackheath Loop. The
former will obviously be the more eligible Line, if the ob¬
jections made to passing under the Park can be obviated,
as the Directors have every reason to hope will be the case.
The great importance of effecting the most direct com¬
munication with Woolwich and Gravesend has led the
Directors to bestow much attention on this point.
the plan proposed by Mr. R. Stephenson passes through
c 2
( 20 )
the Park entirely in a Tunnel, without in the slightest de¬
gree interfering with its character. The sole objection,
therefore, arises from the fear of interfering with the Ob¬
servatory, by the vibration of passing trains affecting the
instruments placed there. The apprehension of this led
the Admiralty on a former occasion to refuse their consent
to any Railway passing through the Park. But Mr.
Stephenson has since that time instituted a series of expe¬
riments in the neighbourhood of other Tunnels, the results
of which are conclusive to all who have witnessed them,
that there is no risk whatever to the Observatory from
the passage of the Railway in a Tunnel under the Park
in the manner proposed.
Being thus prepared to prove to demonstration that the
sole ground of objection to the passage of the Railway
under the Park is untenable and altogether unsupported
by experiment, the Directors have too much confidence in
the good sense of the government authorities to apprehend
that they will oppose any obstacle to a measure by which
the convenience of such large masses of population would
be so materially promoted.
In the event, however, of any insurmountable obstacle
preventing any Line from being carried under or across
the Park at Greenwich, the Blackheath Line will afford the
best attainable communication.
Pursuing the North Kent Line from the point of junc¬
tion at Chilham, it will be seen that it adopts from thence
into Canterbury, a distance of six miles, the existing Ash-
ford and Canterbury Line.
From Canterbury, as another portion of the North Kent
Series, the Canterbury and Dover Line proceeds by Nac-
kington, Bridge and Barham to Buckland and Dover;
terminating on the one hand at the existing station of the
South-Eastern Line on the South Pier, and on the other at
the east end of Dover, near Castle Street. The total
( '21 )
length from Canterbury to the junction at Dover will be
16 miles 4 furlongs.
The remaining portion of the North Kent Series is a
short Line from Sarre, about midway between Canterbury
and Ramsgate, direct to Margate. The total length from
Sarre to Margate will be 7 miles 4 furlongs 13 yards.
From the Greenwich Railway at the crossing
of the Grand Surrey Canal to Maidstone,
Ash ford and Tunbridge.
This is the central, or Mid-Kent portion of the Series,
and is in length from the Greenwich Railway to Chart, near
Ashford, 49 miles 6 furlongs and 79 yards. From the point
of commencement to Lewisham will be common to this Line
and the North Kent. From Lewisham the Line proceeds,
following the valley of the Ravensbourne, to Bromley,
thence by Farnborough to the valley of the Darent, which
it will cross by a viaduct near Shoreham and Otford.
Thence by Kemsing, Wrotham and Ightham to West and
East Mailing ; and thence to Maidstone, forming there a
Main Station in the High Street, close to the Town Hall.
From Maidstone the Line proceeds by Hollingbourne,
Harrietsham and Lenham, to Little Chart, where it falls
into the South-Eastern Line, about two miles west of Ash¬
ford.
From Ightham, 22 miles from the point of starting on the
Greenwich Railway, a Branch, 8 miles 2 furlongs and 4
yards in length, proceeds to Tunbridge, forming there a
Junction with the Main South-Eastern Line, and also with
the Tunbridge Wells Branch; and from Otford, 17J miles
from the point of starting, a Branch, 2| miles in length, is
laid down to Riverhead, near Sevenoaks.
( 22 )
As an accessory equally important both to the North
Kent and the Mid Kent system, the Line from Maidstone
to Rochester stands next in order.
This Line will commence by a Junction with the ex¬
isting South-Eastern Branch Line at Maidstone, and in
connection also with the Main Station at the Town Hall.
It will proceed as far as Allington, 2 miles 6 furlongs and
77 yards in a Line common to the Mid Kent Line. From
Allington it follows the valley of the Medway throughout
to Strood, near the foot of Rochester Bridge, where it will
form a Junction with the South-Eastern North Kent Line,
and also with the existing Gravesend and Rochester Rail¬
way; the length from Maidstone to the Junction with the
Gravesend and Rochester Railway at Strood is 11 miles 6
furlongs and 22 yards.
The Line next in importance is the extension of the
Tunbridge Wells Branch through Battle to St. Leonard's,
near Hastings, and (by a Junction with the Ashford and
Hastings Line) to Rye. The total length of Line from Tun-
bridge Wells to the Junction at St. Leonard's is 25f miles,
that of the Branch from Whatlington towards Rye, 5\ miles.
This Line becomes, in connection with the Mid Kent
Line, as proposed by this Company, an extremely impor¬
tant work, as opening a direct Line from London viâ Tun-
bridge to Hastings and Rye. The total distance from
London to Hastings will be 64 miles. That from London
to Rye, 67 miles.
From the Line already authorized at Rye, and which is
in course of construction, a Branch is proposed to Rye
Harbour, 1| mile.
From a point near the Godstone Station a Branch is
proposed to East Grinstead, 6 J- miles, and from the Reigate
Station a Branch to Reigate and to Dorking, 7| miles.
An examination of the Map will show that the entire
Works, as above described, will, by their connection with
( 23 )
the other Works of the South-Eastern Company, either
actually executed or in course of execution, connect Lon¬
don with every Town of importance in Kent and East
Sussex, and those Towns with each other.
The South-Eastern Company found their claims to the
attention of Parliament on the great extent of accommoda¬
tion which they will, if the Lines in question be granted
to them, be able to afford to the Public. They believe
that the Lines which have been selected are the best which
the features of the country admit of, and their instructions
to the Engineer were, as before stated, so to arrange
them as to leave no point of any importance in the Sout.h-
Eastern district unserved. They trust that they shall
show that the Plans which they have put forward, if
taken as a whole, will fully carry out this purpose.
In examining the Northern part of Kent for the pur¬
pose of a Railway, it is apparent that the first important
point not already touched is Woolwich, and in projecting
a Line to connect London with Chatham, Sheerness, and
the Downs, it appeared essential to connect also those im¬
portant points with Woolwich.
It was also apparent that, in order to render a Railway
properly available for the traffic between London and
Woolwich, it must actually touch the latter Town and
place it on a Main Line. Any secondary mode of effect¬
ing the communication would be a failure, both as a com¬
mercial enterprize and as affording convenience to the
Public. In order to bring the traffic on the Railway from
Woolwich, the Trains must be frequent, rapid and cheap.
These requisites can only be effected by placing it on a Main
Line, so as to form a portion of a comprehensive system.
The Railway placed at a distance from the population,
or connecting with the Main Line by a Branch, would, at
so short a distance from London, be of comparatively little
( 24 )
use. It was therefore determined to encounter the ex¬
pense, and by passing through the Town of Woolwich and
close to the Dock Yard, to make the Work as perfect
and as extensively useful as possible.
The South - Eastern Line, therefore, passes directly
through Woolwich.
But whilst examining into the requirements of the nor¬
thern side of Kent next the river, the South-Eastern Com¬
pany were aware that there was also the important and
populous district of Eltham, Bexley and the Crays, which
required to be opened to railway communication.
Mr. Stephenson attempted to lay down a Line which
might by a devious course accomplish both objects in one
work, but this he found would be impossible ; such a Line
would serve neither purpose well. He therefore early
recommended that one complete and independent Line
should be made through Woolwich, and another complete
and independent Line through Eltham, Bexley and Cray-
ford, to form a Junction with the first-mentioned or strictly
North Kent Line, near Dartford. Each Work is in this
manner made perfect in itself, and all the important points
are actually touched, whilst the more distant traffic may
be carried on without the risk of being interrupted by the
numerous short trains to Woolwich, an inconvenience
which this Company frequently experiences at present in
working its trains over the Croydon Railway.
The same principle which has been applied to Woolwich
with reference to approaching the population has been
carried throughout the Line. Taking the towns of Dart-
ford, Gravesend, Strood, Rochester and Chatham, Gilling-
ham, Milton, Sittingbourne and Faversham, the Line has
been carried as nearly as possible into the heart of the
population, and in every instance the Stations will be so
placed as to give the most ample accommodation.
The Lines from Canterbury to Dover and from Sarre to
( 25 )
Margate require no particular remark ; they are designed
to carry into effect the principle to which this Company
have pledged themselves, viz. to connect in the most direct
manner consistently with engineering capability every im¬
portant town in the South-Eastern district, and to leave
nothing undone which the wants of the more important
masses of population might fairly be said to require.
The Central or Mid Kent Line proposed by this Com¬
pany has for its object to form a direct Line to Maidstone
and Ashford, as well as to Tunbridge and Tunbridge
Wells, and, by means of the Tunbridge Wells and Hast¬
ings Line, to Hastings, St. Leonard's and Rye. It will also
materially shorten the distance to Dover and Folkestone,
and afford the best possible line of communication between
the Metropolis and the Continent. In this latter point of
view it is a work of the highest importance to this Com¬
pany as well as to the Public.
The following table will show the saving of distance
by the proposed new Lines to some of the principal places
already in communication with London by the existing
South-Eastern Lines :
London Bridge to —
Tunbridge
Maidstone
Ashford
Canterbury
Tunbridge Wells
Whitstable
Folkestone
Dover (by Mid Kent Line).
Ditto (by North Kent Line)
Margate
Ramsgate
Sandwich
Deal
m
86J
82
88
88
100
96|
96f
1 00;
56
67
80#
41|
Miles.
76
76
Miles.
32
351
531
361
66
68J
741
76J
764
80f
Miles.
204
20|
20
12
24
10
( 26 )
The Line from Reigate to Dorking will, it is considered,
be peculiarly valuable to this Company as opening a
communication to the westward, which will in all proba¬
bility at no distant day be carried out so as to form almost
a direct Line between Dover and Bristol. The import¬
ance of this will be felt when the opening of the Great
North Line of France and the other Lines in progress
towards Germany and to the Mediterranean, shall have
altered, as they inevitably will, the whole character of the
communication between this Country and the Continent.
The East Grinstead Branch is calculated to secure to
this Company the traffic of an important district which it
has hitherto supplied, and the inhabitants of which are
extremely desirous of such a communication.
It will be borne in mind that in the last Session of Par¬
liament, and as part of the results of the contest for the
projects in Kent and East Sussex comprised in Group A.,
the Legislature granted to this Company the Line from
Tunbridge to Tunbridge Wells, the Line from Minster in
Thanet to Deal, and also the Line from Ashford to Hast¬
ings, which last mentioned Line completes the coast com¬
munication.
The only other act granted for a Railway in Kent was
that of the Gravesend and Rochester Railway (previously
known as the Thames and Medway Canal) Company.
The Company were empowered to convert their Canal
into a Railway.
The South-Eastern Company have made arrangements
for purchasing the Railway so authorized.
Taking therefore the works granted in the last Session
of Pai'liament, and adding to them the Works previously
executed by the South-Eastern Company, the Proprietors
will, with the projects now to be presented to Parliament,
have before them the entire scheme of the South-Eastern
System.
( 27 )
The Directors appeal with confidence to the public ac¬
quainted with the district to say, whether the pledge given,
that a complete and comprehensive scheme for its accom¬
modation should be brought forward, has not been realized
to the fullest extent. They stated at the outset that, al¬
though possessing peculiar claims of vested interests, they
had made up their minds at once and frankly to waive all
such claims as bars to further improvement, and to meet
the altered circumstances of the time by affording the
best possible system of Railway Communication for the
entire district. And they now invite attention to the
above description of the Lines proposed by them, as well
as to the Plans and Sections which they have deposited,
and to the Evidence before the Committee of last Session,
in the confident belief that the scheme proposed by them,
under the advice of Mr. R. Stephenson, will be found, on
investigation, to afford much more extensive accommoda¬
tion to the public than is to be given by any of their in¬
dividual competitors, and as much at least as could be
furnished by the whole of them, taken in the aggregate.
If this be so, the question becomes narrowed to the con¬
sideration, whether the existing Company have superior
claims to have the execution of these works entrusted to
them, and whether they are able and willing to offer
guarantees for the public advantage superior to any that
can be afforded by new Companies.
Upon the latter point the first question that arises is, as
to the comparative security that is afforded for the com¬
pletion of the Works sanctioned by Parliament by the
existing as compared with any new Company. A short
statement of the actual financial position of the South-
Eastern Company will afford the best answer to this ques¬
tion. The Company have paid up a Million and a Half
of capital during the last twelve months, a test which of
itself speaks volumes as to the confidence of the Propri¬
etors in the concern, as well as to their wealth and ability
( 28 )
to meet any further Calls that may be required. The total
amount of capital which has been paid up in cash by the
Proprietors is Three Million Four Hundred Thousand
Pounds, and an additional sum of One Million Six
Hundred Thousand Pounds, which has been borrowed
on mortgage, is in process of being paid off and converted
into Share Capital, making together a Capital of Five
Millions; and to complete the Works, for which Par¬
liamentary Powers have been obtained, Six Hundred
and Twenty Thousand Pounds more will be required to
be called up.
Those who are familiar with the early history of the
South-Eastern Company, will remember, that, in conse¬
quence of the difficulty of the times, the paid up shares,
instead of realizing in Capital Fifty Pounds each, did not,
on the average, actually produce more than Thirty-Two
Pounds each, at which price the Shares commonly known
as No. One were issued ; the No. Twos were issued at
Thirty-Three Pounds Six Shillings and Eight Pence ; and
the No. Threes at Thirty Pounds each. The reason for
fixing this rate was, that, by issuing a Share of Thirty
Pounds to every then holder of an existing Share, the
exact amount of Capital estimated for constructing the
Lines then projected was represented by so near an ap¬
proximation as Two Thousand Pounds. The No. Three
Shares are not to receive any Dividend until the construc¬
tion of the Lines shall be complete for which this parti¬
cular Capital was raised.
The No. Four Shares were necessarily a repetition of
the No. Threes, and issued on the same principle, divided
into Half Shares on account of the increased deposit
required by Parliament. The present arrangement of
Shares must continue until all the Shares are paid up;
until which time, the proportion of a Dividend to which each
Class is entitled is ascertained by taking the Calls that
are paid up at the time as if they were the same proportion
( 29 )
of Fifty pounds (the nominal amount of the shares paid
up in full), as they actually are of Thirty-Two Pounds,
Thirty-Three Pounds Six Shillings and Eightpence, and
Thirty Pounds respectively: this puts these shares on a
level with the paid up shares.
This is a subject on which unjustifiable comments have
been made by those who were hostile to the Company,
supposing that there was in these arrangements a weak
point to attack, which is not the case. By one stroke of
the pen, when all Calls are paid up, the Nominal amount
of Capital will be blotted out, and all the Shares will take
rank alike in Amount as in Dividend. Till this occurs,
let it be repeated, that the present arrangement is sound,
right, and equitable to all parties concerned.
Four Millions and a Half have, as before stated, been
already expended in the construction of the Railway, and
the Directors have in hand Cash, Exchequer Bills, and
Three per Cent. Consols, to the amount of Half a Mil¬
lion, with which they are prepared to pay the Ten per
Cent. Deposit on the Capital for constructing the new
Lines when Parliament meets.
The difference in the nature of the Security for the
speedy completion of any extensive and expensive Works,
which is afforded by an Established Company with a paid up
Capital of Five Millions, and in possession of a property
which, although undeveloped, has yielded in the last twelve
months a gross income of upwards of Two Hundred and
Sixty Thousand Pounds, as, compared with that of a new
Company, whose sole guarantee consists in a Parliamentary
Deposit on a Nominal Capital, will be better appreciated
now than it might have been a few months ago, in the
full tide of Railway speculation. The difference between
projecting a Railway on paper and carrying out the same
scheme in its integrity, amidst the practical difficulties
which every great undertaking has to encounter, is begin¬
ning to be understood, and there are not wanting examples
( 30 )
to show that the public cannot always rely implicitly on
the promises of projectors. This is more especially the case
with a Line like that in North Kent, where, in order to
establish even the possibility of an independent and com¬
peting Line, an enormous expense must be incurred in pro¬
viding Metropolitan termini and constructing Lines of
Railway parallel to and duplicate with portions of the
existing South-Eastern system.
It has been urged, however, that admitting the superior
ability of the South-Eastern Company to execute the
Lines in question, their sincerity might be questioned, and
that such projects were only put forward by them for the
purpose of impeding their execution by other parties.
In support of this assertion, it has been asked, why, if
they really intended to execute their Lines, they did not
bring them forward before ? The history of the early pro¬
gress of the South-Eastern Railway affords a sufficient
answer to this objection. The Line was opened for traffic
to Dover on the 7th February, 1844. It has been already
seen, that the South-Eastern Company were precluded by
Parliament, and by the prejudices of the county, from at¬
tempting any other Line than their existing one, and that,
in carrying out this to its completion, they had to con¬
tend with unexampled difficulties. It is notorious that even
with Railway Companies more fortunately situated, it was
impossible to raise money for new projects until the pres¬
sure which had so long affected the commercial world
began to be relieved in 1844. The " North Kent" and
other competing schemes owe their existence entirely to the
facility for obtaining money which then began to prevail,
and the South-Eastern Company did not delay for a mo¬
ment when the opportunity was afforded to meet the de¬
mand of the district for further accommodation. Instead
of imputing tardiness to them in meeting this demand, it
may with more justice be said, that, looking at the position
of the South-Eastern Company, and comparing their con-
( 3] )
duct with that of other Railway Companies more fortu¬
nately circumstanced, they may claim credit for having at
such an early period brought forward the Branches and
Extensions by which Maidstone, Tunbridge Wells, Can¬
terbury, Ramsgate, Margate, and Deal, have received, or
are about to receive, the benefits of Railway communica¬
tion.
The South-Eastern Company might answer any imputa¬
tion on their sincerity, by appealing to the notorious fact
that they have never yet failed in carrying through any
portion of the extensive Works entrusted to them by Par¬
liament, but they are prepared to appeal to a still more
conclusive test. They proposed last session, before the
Board of Trade, to insert in their Acts clauses declaring
that, if any of the Works to be granted to them should not
be completed within the time to be fixed in the Act,
they should pay no dividend until such new Works should
be completed. This provision was inserted in the Acts of
last session, and the Company are willing to insert it again
in the ensuing session. In other words they are prepared
to pledge the whole income of a property upon which four
millions and a half has been already expended, for the
completion within a reasonable time of whatever additional
works Parliament may sanction ; and they will leave it
to the public to judge of the fairness of the attempts
which have been made to discredit the sincerity of their
professions, by parties who knew that such a pledge had
been voluntarily offered by the South-Eastern Company.
The Directors do not wish to cast any imputation on the
sincerity of other parties, but they cannot abstain from ob¬
serving, that Lines may be put forward for other than the
ostensible motives by new as well as by existing Companies,
and that the example of last session does not favour the
presumption, that those who have been the loudest in pro¬
claiming the advantage of independent Lines, will be the
most resolute in maintaining that independence, when in-
( 32 )
terest points to a compromise. It is notorious to every
one who has watched the progress of events in the Rail¬
way world, that the latter half of the present year has
been employed in negotiating sales, amalgamations, and
compromises, for the purpose of undoing what Parliament
had done in the first half in the way of sanctioning new
and independent schemes to compete with existing in¬
terests. Nor will any one say that there is any thing in
the position of the North Kent Line to exempt it from the
general law which has prevailed in other similar cases.
On the contrary, there are many peculiar circumstances,
such as the expense of procuring an independent metro¬
politan Terminus,—the certainty of competition at every
point from the river on the one hand, and from the existing
South-Eastern Lines on the other, and the nature of the
internal traffic of Kent, requiring unity of management, in
order to be conducted with any tolerable economy and
convenience,—which must inevitably make it for the inte¬
rest of any Company sanctioned in North Kent as inde¬
pendent, to sell itself to the rival by whom the greatei
portion of the field was already pre-occupied.
The Directors assert most confidently, that the same ne¬
cessity which has already led to the amalgamation of the
London and Birmingham with the Grand Junction, Man¬
chester and Birmingham, and Liverpool and Manchester,
of the Lines from Newcastle and Hull to Birmingham and
Bristol, of the whole of the Railways of the West Riding
of Yorkshire and North Lancashire with the Manchester
and Leeds Railway, and to the numerous other amalga¬
mations which have recently taken place, must eventually
lead to the consolidation of the whole of the Railways in
the South-Eastern district into one system. The interest
of the Proprietors would enforce this, whether the Di¬
rectors might desire it or not. The only question is,
whether the necessity of such consolidation shall be at
( 33 )
once admitted, and the best scheme of communication, on
a comprehensive and uniform system, be at once entrusted
to the Company already established for the purpose, and
by whose efforts the system has been carried far towards
its completion ; or whether a disjointed portion of it shall
be given to a nominally independent Company, with the
moral certainty that it will be used as a weapon of annoy¬
ance, to force the old Company to buy it up at a price for
which the public in some shape or other must ultimately
be taxed.
This subject has been most ably treated in the Fifth
Report of the Committee of the House of Commons on
Railways (printed May, 1844).
" And lastly," the Report proceeds, " with regard to
the check of competition by the Railways among
themselves, the Committee cannot, in all cases, re¬
pose implicit faith in it. * * # * In consi¬
dering the case of passenger charges, and in all
classes of Lines except those which are so short as
to be effectually checked by the ordinary road, the
Committee think that little can be permanently ex¬
pected from the mere multiplication of Railways in
the way of security for moderation of charge. There
may indeed be indirect and accidental competition
between Railways which may cause cheapness, and
there may even be direct and brisk competition,
with great reductions of fare for short periods, but
in such cases of competition somewhat modified,
as have hitherto occurred, the result has generally
been increase of charge by mutual arrangement, or
positive amalgamation of the competing Companies.
The experience of the past is, however, limited, and
might not, if taken alone, warrant any conclusive
opinion ; but in looking to the nature of the ques¬
tion itself, the Committee feel this difficulty, that
they cannot in the case of Railways anticipate any
( 34 )
such facilities in the introduction of new competi¬
tors, as to check the proceedings of the Companies
actually in possession of the Traffic ; that in fact
there is no district of which the Traffic will support
any considerable number of Railways ; that there
is no case in which they can imagine a likelihood
of more than two, or at the very utmost three Lines
of Railway communication, which could be so
situate as to compete with one another ; and they
cannot conceive that two bodies, or even three, acting
by compact executive boards, and secure against the
entrance of any other party into the field, will fail
to combine together
The evidence on which this Report was founded was
taken early in February and March, 1844. The Members
who composed the Committee were men of high standing
and ability, and the concurrent opinion of two Presidents
of the Board of Trade who sat on the inquiry and voted
for the Report, Mr. Gladstone and Mr. Labouchere, esta¬
blishes an amount of authority not easily surpassed, upon
a great commercial question.
The main principles which were put forward in that
Report were recognized and further illustrated in the Re¬
port of the Board of Trade on the South-Eastern Schemes
of last year.
This Report of the Board of Trade has been the subject
of much interested comment, but no one has answered or
refuted it. On the contrary, the results of subsequent
experience have served in a remarkable manner to verify
the anticipations which it contains.
These results have established beyond all question the
fact, that rivalry and competition between Railways can
never long exist.
In the peculiar case of the North Kent district, a most
effective competition must always exist from the facilities
of water conveyance, to which allusion has already been
( 35 )
made ; and in whatever hands a Railway there be placed,
it can only be made profitable by charging extremely low
fares and affording abundant accommodation under econo¬
mical and vigilant management.
The true safeguard to the public against the evils of mo¬
nopoly will be found however in every instance in the fact,
that the railways profit most when they serve the public
best.
The South-Eastern Company can speak from expe¬
rience on this subject. They have long since and on prin¬
ciple adopted the system of moderate fares and frequent
trains as that which alone would bring a large traffic on
their Line. They were carrying third class passengers at
less than a penny per mile long before the subject of third
class fares bad attracted the attention of Parliament, and
long before they had any competitors in the field. They
were the first Railway Company in the South of England
who adopted the system of attaching third class carriages
to the ordinary trains, and in respect of the amount and
cheapness of accommodation afforded to the poorer classes,
they feel that they may safely challenge a comparison with
any other Line. Whilst the London and Birmingham,
Great Western, South-Western, Brighton and other great
Railways, were only running one third class train each way
daily at a reduced speed, and at fares of one penny per
mile or upwards, the South-Eastern Company were con¬
veying third class passengers by numerous Trains at fares
of six-sevenths of a penny per mile.
When the present Directors assumed the management,
they resolved on carrying the principle of reduction still
farther, and at once to test by experiment the degree to
which a lowering of fares would tend to produce an increase
of traffic. This resolution they proceeded to carry out as
soon as they could obtain a supply of locomotive power
sufficient to enable them to conduct an increased traffic
D 2
( 36 )
with safety and punctuality. Accordingly, on the 1st of
September last, they carried into effect a sweeping resolu¬
tion, by which the fares, already low, were reduced on the
average more than twenty per cent.
At the same time they proceeded to carry out the
system of day tickets, to an extent which had never
previously been attempted, granting tickets for a journey
out and home, from every station, and by any train, at a
fare and a half, or at a further reduction of twenty-five
per cent.
The Directors did not attempt to conceal from them¬
selves, that the experiment was a hazardous one, but the
result has fully justified their policy. A great benefit has
been conferred on the public, without any loss being sus¬
tained by the Company. The amount of benefit which
has accrued to the public may be estimated from the fact
that the number of persons carried during the three months
from the 1st September, 1845, exclusive of the Greenwich
Railway, has amounted to 299,528, while during the cor¬
responding period of 1844, the number was 209,932, show¬
ing an increase of persons travelling of 89,596, or at the
rate of 358,384 per annum. On the other hand, the
average amount paid by each person in 1844, was 5s. 2d.,
while in 1845 it is only 3s. 8d.
The system of day tickets has proved an especial boon
to the Second and Third Class of Passengers, about one-
half of the former, and two-thirds of the latter, or nearly
one-half of the whole number travelling, have availed
themselves of the privilege during the three months it has
been in operation.
The following Summary of the Fares per Mile, actually
charged on the South-Eastern Railway, as compared with
some of the other leading Lines of Railway, will conclude
this branch of the question, and will exhibit the great
advantage presented to the public by the South-Eastern
system.
DECEMBER, 1845.
Express.
1st Class
Mail.
1st Class
mixed.
2nd Class
Mail.
2nd Class
mixed.
3rd Class.
RAILWAY.
Fare
per Mile.
Fare
per Mile.
Fare
per Mile.
Fare
per Mile.
Fare
per Mile.
No. of
Trains.
Speed
per Hour.
Fare
per Mile.
South-Eastern
d.
2-45
d.
2-05
d.
2-05
d.
1-36
d.
1-36
12
Miles.
20f
d.
•82
Do. Day Tickets
1-84
1-53
1-53
1-02
1-02
12
20f
•01
Grand Junction
2-46
2-09
2-09
1-72
1-72
2
14
1
London and Birmingham
2-88
2-45
2-13
1-81
1-49
2
15
1
London and Brighton
2-97
Í 2-97 7
1 2-37 S
2-37
1-78
5
20 1
1-19
1
Do. Day Tickets
2-26
f 2-26 7
I 1-78 J
1-78
{&•}
1-37
5
20
•89
South-Western
3-23
S 2-77 7
1 2-4Ö)
2-46
f 2-15 7
1 1-84 5
1-84
2
15J
1
Great Western
3-10
2-75
2-75
1-86
1-86
4
14
1
( 38 )
Concurrently with the above reductions on Passenger
Fares, great reductions and improvements have been carried
into effect in the carriage of Goods. The Company have
themselves become carriers, by which a saving to the public
of from 20 to 50 per cent, on the charges formerly made
by carriers has been effected, accompanied with great
increased facility for the receipt and delivery of goods,
with uniformity of charge to all classes of persons, while,
at the same time, the amount of Traffic and the receipts
of the Company have been greatly increased.
The Directors refer to these facts in order to bear out the
statement which they have made—that they have ever
acted, and they act still, on the profound conviction that
the true interests of the Company are thoroughly identified
with those of the public ; and they may be permitted to
feel some pride in the circumstance that the South-Eastern
Company have been the first to act upon this principle,both
with regard to the introduction of cheap fares, the extension
of Third Class accommodation by the ordinary Trains, and
the general adoption of the day-ticket system.
They may also refer to the exertions which they have
made to place their Locomotive Force on a footing of
efficiency, as a proof of their determination to spare no ex¬
pense in accommodating the public. Since they assumed
the management in 1844, they have ordered no fewer than
Seventy Engines of the best description, which are now in
course of delivery.
They have also given a proof of their anxiety to promote
in every possible way the public service, by laying down, at
the expense of the Company, the Electric Telegraph over
their whole Line. The series is just completed and ready
for operation.
Under these circumstances the Directors feel that while,
on the one hand, the Scheme of New Lines which they
( 39 )
propose is the most complete and comprehensive, and the
guarantee which they offer for its construction the most
substantial ; on the other hand, their past conduct affords
the best answer to the objections of monopoly, and the
best earnest of their future intentions. They feel therefore,
that they are in a position to urge, with the strongest effect,
the equitable claim of the South-Eastern Company to com¬
plete their own system. They have shown that the original
direction of the South-Eastern Line was actually forced
upon them by the circumstances of the time, and was
adopted at the first, and has since been repeatedly sanc¬
tioned by Parliament, as the proper Trunk Line for the
accommodation of the District.
Experience has shown that a larger amount of accom¬
modation is required. The Directors do not complain of
this, and they are ready and willing to make the Scheme
of Lines for the entire District as complete as possible.
But they do claim from the justice of Parliament
to be allowed to effect these improvements them¬
selves. They consider that it would be a case of in¬
justice, if, after having been led to expend Four Mil¬
lions and a Half of money in opening up the Railway
communications in a manner dictated to them by the pre¬
judices of the Country and by the requisitions of Par¬
liament no longer ago than the year 1836, and having
to expend upwards of Six Hundred Thousand Pounds to
complete the Works in progress, they should now be
placed in a worse position than any new adventure, and
precluded from protecting their original outlay by effecting
those improvements which further experience has shown to
be necessary to make their system complete and efficient
for the purposes for which it was originally sanctioned by
the Legislature. They are in the position of manufacturers
who, having been led to embark a large capital on the faith
of a protecting duty, are willing to abandon that protection
( 40 )
and march with the times, on the sole condition of being
allowed to embark further capital in providing the best
machinery and introducing the latest improvements; and
they cannot believe that while fair play and common sense,
which are the basis of confidence and prosperity in a great
commercial country, prevail, such a claim can ever be dis¬
regarded.
In this view the Directors are confirmed by what took
place during the last Session. It will be recollected that the
Main Schemes proposed by the South-Eastern Company
for the accommodation of Kent were prevented, by defects
in point of form, from being presented as substantive
measures to Parliament. The competing projects therefore
had every advantage, and, under ordinary circumstances,
and in the absence of strong and special reasons weighing
with the Committee to the contrary, might have been ex¬
pected to pass. Notwithstanding these drawbacks, the
case of the South-Eastern Company presented such a
decided superiority, both on general grounds of policy and
in local details, that the Committee decided unanimously
on the rejection of the rival North Kent "Schemes," thus
practically deciding that it was better for the County of
Kent to wait for a year longer for the completion of its
Railway communications, than to accept the inferior and
disjointed schemes which had for that Session an advan¬
tage over the complete and comprehensive projects of the
South-Eastern Company.
The Company will therefore meet their opponents in
Parliament next Session, not with the uncertainty at¬
tending a first trial of strength, but with the advantage
of having already had verdicts in their favour twice re¬
corded by independent tribunals after full investigation,
viz. : by the Board of Trade in the first instance, and
subsequently, under circumstances the most unfavourable,
by the confirmation of that Report and rejection of the
( 41 )
rival North Keilt Schemes, by the Committee of the
House of Commons.
There are other reasons also why the Directors are prepared
to meet Parliament with increased confidence that the de¬
cisions of last Session in their favour will be confirmed.
The value of the South-Eastern scheme for purposes of
national defence, as passing close to the Dock Yard at
Woolwich, connecting that important point in the best
manner with the other great naval and military establish¬
ments, and completing the chain of coast communication,
were strongly dwelt upon last year. Since that period,
various circumstances have occurred to call public atten¬
tion still more strongly to this subject. The recom¬
mendation of the Commissioners that Dover and other
points along the South-Eastern Coast should be converted
into harbours of refuge, obviously gives an additional
inducement to Parliament to place the system of Railway
Communication which connects these points with one
another, with the Dockyards and Arsenals, with the Me¬
tropolis, and with the Railway System of the rest of the
kingdom, in the hands of a powerful Company, who can
afford the best guarantee for its early completion and
effectual maintenance, and who in the event of any emer¬
gency can command the largest amount of materiel and
promptest arrangements for the public service. The evi¬
dence given by those high military authorities, Sir Wil-
loughby Gordon and Sir John Burgoyne, before the
Commissioners on the Gauge Question, clearly demon¬
strates the great importance of the latter consideration in
a national point of view.
The sanction given by Parliament to the purchase of the
Greenwich Railway by the South-Eastern Company, and
the Extension Lines of that Company to Deal and Hastings,
together with the completion of the Lines to Maidstone
and to Canterbury, Ramsgate and Margate, also obviously
( 42 )
place it in a better position than it occupied last Session.
If competition in the North Kent District had been the
object of Parliament, it would never have sanctioned
measures which have a manifest tendency to defeat such
competition, and which in point of fact would go far
towards rendering its existence impossible. Nor can it be
conceived that Parliament would sanction the waste of
Capital, and wanton interference with private property, that
would be now required to construct a nominally inde¬
pendent North Kent Line from London to Canterbury,
when it can be shown that seventeen miles of such Line,
including a Metropolitan Terminus, viz. three miles and
three quarters from London Bridge to Lewisham, one mile
and three quarters the Bricklayers' Arms Branch, five
miles and a half from Gravesend to Rochester, and six
miles from Chilham to Canterbury, would be saved by
adopting Lines already constructed, or whose construction
is necessary for other objects, under the arrangements of
the South-Eastern Company.
Nor can the Directors doubt that the extravagant length
to which speculation in new Railway Schemes has been
carried, and the ruinous reaction which has at length over¬
taken such speculation, must have a strong effect on
the Legislature in disposing them to view, with more dis¬
trust than last year, the promises of projectors, and the
policy of indiscriminate encouragement to competition. It
is obvious that if under the circumstances of the Kentish
District, a new North Kent Line is sanctioned, although
intrinsically inferior, simply because it is new and competes
with an established interest, a direct bounty is held out to
explore the map of England in every direction, with a view to
find where an old Line is open to plausible attack, and where
a paper project can be devised, which, if good for nothing
else, is at anyrate worth something to be bought off, when
it has got its act under pretences of independence. Of the
( 43 )
Lines sanctioned last year by Parliament as Independent
Schemes likely to create a beneficial competition, the
Directors believe that scarcely one can be pointed out
which has not already negotiated its amalgamation, and
merged its independence, and they cannot but feel con¬
fident that the result of experience will have its weight,
when Schemes of a similar character are brought forward
in a future Session.
Last Session the Directors are aware that they had to
contend with a prejudice against the Company, arising
from the deficiency in power in the Engines originally
ordered to command the gradients of the Line, and from
irregularities incidental to a total change of management
on the eve of going to Parliament, aggravated by accidents
altogether beyond their control, such as the partial destruc¬
tion of the Locomotive Establishment at New Cross by fire.
It has been their business, during the interval which has
elapsed, to remove all causes of complaint against the Com¬
pany, AND TO PLACE ITS INTERESTS ON THE ONLY SECURE
BASIS, BY IDENTIFYING THEM WITH THOSE OF THE PUBLIC.
By the extensive reductions of Fares, already alluded to, this
has been in a great measure effected as regards cheapness
and accommodation, while as regards safety and punctuality,
they have omitted no exertion and spared no expense, as
is proved by the steps, already described, taken to erect the
Electric Telegraph and to procure an adequate supply of
Engines; and, if a just regard be paid to the difficulties
under which they have laboured, in common with other
Railway Companies, from the impossibility of supplying
Locomotive Power to meet the extraordinary increase of
Traffic at a short notice, they feel entitled to say that their
exertions have been successful.
With regard to the atmospheric system of traction on
which the projects of the Croydon party in opposition to
this Company are based, the Directors only think it
( 44 )
necessary to observe that it has not at present been shown
to be practically applicable to long lines, so as to combine
all the conditions of economy and regularity which are
essential to the success of any system applied to the pur¬
poses of commercial enterprise. It is however apparent
that whatever improvements the progress of science may
bring forward, either on this or any other system of loco¬
motion, such improvements must work more effectively on a
line with good gradients than on one where they are severe.
This Company will always be prepared to march with the
times and to adopt any improvements which may be shown
by experience to be sound and useful.
It is on the principles above stated, proved as they have
been by overwhelming evidence, that the Directors will, with
increased confidence, take their stand before Parliament in
the ensuing Session. They will maintain that the true in¬
terests of the Public will be better served by committing
the whole of the Extensive Scheme of Railways for the
South-Eastern District to one management, than by any
subdivision—that they have a Property to place in the
scale which must form a most ample security under any
conceivable state of pressure on the Money Market or
otherwise, for the performance of their engagements—that
having, at a period when the subject was little understood,
and through almost unexampled difficulties, carried through
a great Work at a cost of Four Millions and a Half already
expended, and with more than Six Hundred Thousand
Pounds to lay out to complete the construction of the
Works committed to this Company in the last Session, they
claim of Parliament the privilege of adding to it such Ex¬
pansions and Amendments as the progress of the Railway
System and the wants of the People have shown to be re¬
quired.
The Directors believe the Scheme of the South-Eastern
Railway, as now submitted, to be complete and sound in all
( 45 )
its parts, and they solicit from the Proprietors, who have
already provided the Funds for carrying it out, their aid to
bring the whole case fully and fairly before Parliament and
the Public. The Directors have perfect confidence in its
principles and in its details, and they will endeavour to
perform faithfully the duty incumbent upon them to insure
its success.
TM1E ®(®WrM EASÏÏ2EIRH COIMII"
LUNES OF RAILWAY
MADE, MAKING & PROJECTED.
SESS: 184-6.
t.R J'-l>/».".< .i Wrnv;rf. '"f fhlh v
LONDON:
PRINTED BY C. KOWORTH AND SOI«
TEMPLE BAR.