DUTCH RAILWAYS.

King Country Chronicle, Volume V, Issue 359, 13 May 1911, Page 2

DUTCH RAILWAYS.

The railways of Holland seem to have a pretty hardscmbble time of it. Water competition—that of the canals and of the Rhine—has always been their bugbear. Even now, after fifty years' struggle for business, the railways carry only ten per cent, of Dutch freight. From Amsterdam alone there are lot less than 150 lines of local steamers that go regularly to every port of the country, providing a daily service—or rather a nightly service—which enables them to deliver freight from almost anywhere to anywhere in the country every morning. It is only when the canals and rivers freeze up in exceptionally severe winters, says "Moody's Magazine,," or when in summer there is unusually low water, that the railways get for a short time any considerable part of this traffic. Although the country is almost everywhere on a dead level, construction has been rather costly, on account of the great number of bridges required. For example, between Amsterdam and Rotterdam there are no less than eighty bridges, of which eight are swing bridges. Sometimes the bridges required to cross the numerous and intersecting canal 3 are practically viaducts of a mile or two in length. All the lines in the country arc operated by two companies, the Company for the Exploration of the State Railways and the Dutch Iron Railway Company. The total length of all the lines is less than 1600 miles, of which the State operates about 900 and the Iron Railway Co., about G6O, made up of 205 miles belonging to th 3 State, 230 owned by the other companies, and IKS miles of its own lines. There is considerable competition between the two companies, which taken in connection with the sharp competition of the rivers and canals, insures a very good cervice. Each company pays a rental to the State for the lines belonging thereto winch it operates, and each must share with the State in its profits over 5 per rent. The dividends during recent years have varied between 3 per cent, and 5 per cent., which in face of the competition, the extremely low rat?s, and the exceptional handicap under which the lines are worked, is highly creditable to the management. In 190S dividends were only 3 per cent.