Report of the Railway Department of the Board of Trade on the London, Worcester, and Wolverhampton, | Page 9

the offer of
reasonable guarantees, it might perhaps have become necessary,
notwithstanding the disadvantages of the Great Western scheme, in
respect of the gauge and other points, to adopt this alternative.
This is, however, by no means the case; but, on the contrary, the
London and Birmingham Company have come forward voluntarily to
offer guarantees and conditions of a very advantageous character.

They offer, on condition of their Worcester scheme being sanctioned, at
once to meet the objections of monopoly, by inserting in their Act the
following provisions:
1. The whole of the Railways under their control, including the existing
London and Birmingham Railway, to become subject to the options of
revision and purchase contained in the Act of last year: the option of
revision, however, at 10 per cent. to accrue at an earlier period than that
of 20 years, specified in the Act.
2. A revised tariff to be framed for the whole of the said Railways,
including the London and Birmingham Railway, upon the principle of
fixing maximum rates for passengers and goods lower than those at
present charged, and at as low a level as those charged upon any of the
principal Northern Railways.
3. One article of such tariff to be, that coals and iron are to be carried at
rates not exceeding 1d. per ton per mile, including toll and locomotive
power.
4. All differences with other Railway Companies, by which the public
safety or convenience are affected, to be referred to the Board of Trade,
or other competent authority for that purpose established by Parliament.
6. The London and Birmingham Company to pledge the whole revenue
of their existing line for the completion of the proposed undertaking
within a reasonable time.
It appears to us that these guarantees hold out for the Public a prospect
of permanent and certain advantage greatly beyond anything that could
be expected from the competition of two great Companies, who would
be urged by every motive of interest to combine.
We attach the greatest importance to the security obtained for the cheap
transit of coals and minerals. Not only will a great benefit be thereby,
as we believe, secured for the important mineral districts of
Staffordshire and the Midland Counties, but also a still more important
benefit for the poorer and industrious classes, and for the consumers of

coals generally throughout the Southern and Western Counties, and in
the Metropolis.
The charge of conveyance of coals by Railway from South
Staffordshire or Derbyshire to London will not exceed 11s. or 12s. per
ton, and it has been stated to us, that, after payment of all charges, good
house coals could be sold here, with a profit, at prices not exceeding
20s. per ton.
During the recent frost and easterly winds the price of coals in London
has been as high as 40s. per ton; and during the winter the price
frequently exceeds 30s. for coals of ordinary quality. When we
consider how materially the comfort of all classes, more especially of
those in humble circumstances, depends on a regular supply of cheap
coal, and also how much the employment of industry is affected by the
same circumstances, and when we bear in mind that a saving of every
shilling per ton on the average consumption of the Metropolis is
equivalent to an annual saving to its inhabitants of 150,000l., it is
impossible not to appreciate the importance of insuring low rates of
charge upon the principal Railways which are in connexion with the
great inland coal fields.
In other respects also we think that the introduction of a system of
moderate charges upon the London and Birmingham and its tributary
Railways, will be calculated to afford great advantage to important
commercial interests, and to the community at large, while we see
every reason to hope that it will not be unproductive of benefit to the
Company itself. We must remember, however, that this latter point is,
to a certain extent, experimental, and that it is highly important to
obtain voluntarily from the Company guarantees of a permanent
character.
It must not be forgotten that, without some arrangement of this sort, the
Company, if so disposed, has a perfect legal right to resort to charges
so high as greatly to inconvenience the Public, and that, under an
altered state of things, with a depressed money-market, and all fear of
immediate competition removed, it is by no means certain that it might
not find it for its interest to do so.

We have also the authority of the Select Committee of last Session for
attaching great importance to the prospective guarantee, for the future,
in the shape of options of revision or purchase, which are now
voluntarily offered by one of the first Railway Companies in the
kingdom, whose line could not be,