LONDON TRAFFIC PLAN.

Hawera Star, Volume XLV, 26 October 1925, Page 9

LONDON TRAFFIC PLAN.

GOODS BY UNDERGROUND. ESTIMATED COST, £32,000,000. It Avill be a curious situation if the great problem of traffic AA’ith which London is faced is solved in the end by the aid of American enterprise (remarks a London paper). The e\’ent seems possible, if not immediately probable, a proposal having been made by the Winchester American Corporation for financing an underground goods raihvay in London Avhich Avill eliminate much of the goods traffic and “restore freedom of movement in the streets to the conditions which prevailed 25 years ago.” Obviously, such a scheme, if it can be carried out, possesses a great deal of merit. What it means, roughly, is this, that many thousands of raihvay vans and dock vehicles Avhich are now on the streets delivering goods from the various main line stations and from the riA r er would be removed. Instead of tra\ T elling north and south and east and west across. London, the goods, duly classified into districts, would come underground to various near centres for distribution to the firms to which they are consigned. For the West Central district, for example, there might be a station in Tottenham Court road, equipped Avith all the latest deA’ices for loading and unloading expeditiously. Here the goods Avould be put into Avaggons and sent to their destination; and, similarly, goods from this district would be collected and sent off from the station to various parts of the country Avithout the necessity of handling them again until they reached their destination.

SOME TRAFFIC ON THE SURFACE. It is true that, even with a great number of these underground goods stations in all parts of London, there must still be a certain amount of traffic on the surface for the purposes of collection and distribution; hut, instead of concentrated lines of traffic right through London as there are to-day, it would be confined within comparatively small and easily workable areas. Goods that now help to block the streets on their way from Paddington to Poplar, and from- King’s Cross to South London. would be taken underground the whole way, and only those for local delivery on the way Avould be sent up to the surface at the intermediate stations.

The scheme depends entirely, of course, on the co-operation and support of all the main line railways. Without this it AA’ould be of no use at all. At the present time it is not certain that the promoters haA r e obtained 'a definite nromise of this support. So far as is known, the estimated cost of the scheme, which is put at £32.000.000 sterling, is the factor in it Avhich is A’iewed Avith misgiving. THE FINANCIAL ASPECT., It is difficult enough, it -is pointed out, to get the most meagre return upon the capital invested in the present railways, and it is considered very doubtful Avhether the suggested scheme from the financial point of view would pav. On the other hand, the proposal offers the opportunity of such great relief to traffic that the hope is expressed that when its details come to he more (fully explained and considered some means Avill he found of overcoming this financial difficulty and of getting on with the project Avithout any serious delay.