GOING ELECTRIC

Evening Post, Volume CXVII, Issue 82, 7 April 1934, Page 13

GOING ELECTRIC

BRITAIN'S RAILWAYS

MOVE INCREASES TRAFFIC

A BRIGHT FUTURE

The jubilee year of the first electric railway in Great Britain —Yolk's narrow-gauge lino on the beach at Brighton—opened well with tlio completion of the first main-lino electrification scheme in this country and closed full of promise for the future, says a writer in the "Manchester Guardian." On January 1, 1933, the Southern Railway, which had already 325 miles of electrified lino to its credit, added another 34 by extending tho service between London and Three Bridges to Brighton and West Worthing, and expresses now ply hourly between Victoria and the south coast. A few days later tho London Underground opened a new line, parallel to the District Railway, from Hammersmith to Northficlds, bringing Piccadilly Tube trains four miles further west and allowing them (since March 13) to run over the district branch to Hounslow. The northern end of the Piccadilly line pushed out as far as Enfield West on the same clay and reached the terminus at Coekl'ostors at "the end of July; this additional- throe and a half miles allowed a through service of thirty-two miles—the longest Tubo train run —to Uxbridge via South Harrow and tho Metropolitan line. EXTENSION PLANS. Following the success of tho Brighton electrification, the sections between Brighton and Wivelsfield on tho main line and Lowes and Hastings, together with the branches to Seaford and Eastbourne (covering about sixty miles), are also to lac electrified during the next eighteen months; at the same "time tho suburban system is to be extended for twenty-three . miles from Chislehurst, Bickley, and Orpington to Sevenoaks. It has also been decided to electrify the Glasgow Subway, which makes a six and a half mile circuit of the city and has been cable driven since the last century; an experimental section was equipped in March, and work is well advanced. Iv the London area an extension of the Highgate Tubo to connect with existing routes to Eclgware and High Barnet, the provision of an electric service to Ilford, Romford, and Ongar (by extending the Central London Tube and electrifying the suburban lines from Liverpool Street), the conversion of tho suburban lines from King's Cross and the main line as far as Welwyn Garden City, and tho extension of the L.M.S. electrification from Upminster to Southend are being considered by the joint committee of the London Passenger Transport Board and tho four main lines. It is hoped that the pooling of passenger receipts for all railways in the board's area will assist theso schemes on the financial side and ensure that the capital expended is not jeopardised by competition from rival bus, tram, or Tube developments. IMPROVED SERVICES. Among the chief features of modern electric train services are their greater frequency and greater speed, which, save timo in waiting for trains sis well as on the actual journey. On the southern ■ suburban system five trains run today where two ran before, and the Brighton linn now has a tenminute service in each direction (with additions at rush hours); speeds up to seventy-five miles an hour are attainable. A two-niinuto service at twenty-five miles an hour, including stops (double as fast oil non-stop sections) has made the Piccadilly line the fastest underground railway in the world. On the Sevenoaks and Hastings lines the number of trains at certain stations will be trebled and as much as eighteen minutes may be saved in journey times, while the electrification of the Glasgow Subway will reduce the timo for the whole circuit from thirty-eight to twenty-three minutes, the average speed being more than doubled. Electric railways now tend to purchase power from tho local supply authorities so as to avoid spending money on generating stations, and the existence of "gr,jd" lines in all parts ■of the country has shortened the distance over which power has to bo transmitted as well as reducing its cost to the railway companies. For the Brighton linO alternating current, is purchased from the Central Electricity Board at 33,000 volts, whilo the Cockfosters extension of the Underground is fed from the local supply undertaking. In both cases the direct current for tho trains is obtained from mercury arc rectifiers —a development of the thermionic valve, in which the glass bulb is replaced by a steel tank and -the filament, by a pool of mercury—operating automatically under tho supervision of a central office; ono of these nerve centres controls eighteen sub-stations, some more than thirty miles away, and saves something like £18,000 a year on wages alone. FINANCIAL SUCCESS. Tliough 1933 cannot show any move towards tho general electrification of British railways, it has produced valuable evidence of tho success of existing schemes. At Altrincham, in the year 1931-32, electric trains increased the passenger traffic by 35 per cent., in spite of depressed conditions and direct competition from an express bus service; at Upminster an increase of 20 per cent, in the rush-hour service was called for within six months of the line being electrified. On the main lino to Brighton and Worthing (which carries sufficiently heavy short-distance traffic to be regarded as a suburban extension) the passengers carried in the first six months .of electrification were 22 per cent, more than in tho first half of the previous year, and passenger receipts rose by 18 per cent., or £79,000 —more than enough to cover the extra cost (including all capital charges) of a year's electric working. Such results indicate that reasonable profits are waiting to be earned on the heavily loaded track in tho western and northeastern suburbs of London, industrial Lancashire and Yorkshire, South Wales, the Midlands, the north-cast const, and .the Clyde Valley. Since a comprehensive scheme of railway cletrification was unanimously recommended by tho Weir Committee in 1931 the outlook has become much more favourable. The average price of copper for tho next five- years is not likely to be more than £45 a ton (instead of £70) and tho price of electric locomotives and motor-coach equipment will probably bo 10 or 15 per cent, less than in 1931. Theso two items represent more than 80 per cent, of tho total cost of electrification, so that the estimated not capital expenditure for the whole country will bo £237,400,000 instead of £261,000,000, increasing the return due to savings in operating cosf.s from 6.7 to 9.3 per cent.—a far more satisfactory figure. Electricity can give a more frequent and faster train service, with no smoke in tunnels, cleaner and more comfortable carriages, and more flexible traffic operation. There is little doubt that a considerable proportion of British main lines will be converted in the next ten or fifteen years, and the heavy industries would benefit greatly by' tho early initiation of a large-scale schemo.