Famous Railways.

Cue (NZERS), Issue 35, 15 November 1945, Page 34

Famous Railways.

British railways will be transporting many 'New Zealanders during their leave in England. The men from the Dominion will find many strange contrasts to the familiar main trunk trains of their homelandin Britain everything is on a larger scale and the English have a pardonable pride in their vast railway system with its .mass of tracks, busy terminals and garden-like suburban stations. British railways have some remarkable records. They are all companyowned, and the competitive spirit results in the railways not being the eyesores that they are in New Zealand The companies are extremely powerful organisations and are the world’s largest dock and hotel-owners.

The ’’Flying Scotsman”, probably the most famous of all British trains, makes the world’s longest non-stop run from King’s Cross to. Edinburgh, a distance of 392 and one—quarter miles and wastes no time over the journey. This run is* only made in summer-time and the world’s longest all-year-round non-stop run is made

by the ’’Royal Scot” which travels 299 miles from Carlisle to Euston.

So numerous are the railway stations in Britain that the longest stretch of line between two adjacent stations is only 21 miles.

An idea of the immensity of the British railway system can be gathered from the fact that Clapham Junction, the world’s busiest railway station, handles an average of 2,500 trains every 24 hours. Also, the Southern Railway, with the world’s largest main line and suburban electric train service had, at the end of 1940, 709 route miles, 1760 track miles and 160 sub-stations of a total value of nearly Lll,oobooo. Over 800,000 people are employed by British Railway companies, including 135,000 women. L

During 1944, Rondon tube stations provided air raid shelters for 16,000,000 people in 79 underground stations, and 7,600 three—tier boinks were installed on platforms and in subways and 124 canteens opened which distributed eleven tons of food nightly.