TELEPHONES IN TRAINS.

Hawera Star, Volume XLV, 26 February 1926, Page 8

TELEPHONES IN TRAINS.

EXPERIMENTS IX BRITAIN. How lonyf is the traveler on British railways to remain more completely out off from communication with the world than'the passenger in a liner in midAtlantic? (asks the London Daily .Express) . The question was prompted by the news that on .and after January 4 travellers on the Hamburg and Berlin fast trains would be ab’e to telephone to their families and friends as easily as if they were in their homes. The general attitude of the British railway companies is that, while experiments have been made, and a largo measure of success has been obtauied. they are not yet persuaded that a sufficienlv large proportion of passengers wou'd use it to warrant its introduction. “Our engineers are watching the German experiments with great- interest.” said an official of the London Midland and Scottish Railway. ‘‘The Germans have everything in their favour by selecting that particular piece of line,' because it runs through level country with few, if any, tunnels. Our own experiments were highly successful up to a point, but we found difficulties with tunnels. “The Great "Western Railway Company experimented 18 months ago over the main line between London and Birmingham. “There was a decided fading away of the voice as soon as we entered the tunnels, but on the whole the experiment was siuccesslfuil. We uised .an. eight-valve wireless receiving set in the guard’s van, and no outside aerial. We have no intention of installing it regularly just at present. It is u question of mimic demand.”

The British Broadcasting Company last- June broadcast messages from the footplate of the engine of the Scotch express when she was running at 65 to 70 miles an hour.