FIRST ELECTRIC RAILWAY IN ENGLAND.

Temuka Leader, Issue 2152, 20 January 1891, Page 3

FIRST ELECTRIC RAILWAY IN ENGLAND.

The London correspondent of th* \ Argos, writing under date of November 7 says “ London has seen this week the opening of a new railway of great interest and importance. The fleet electric railway in England deserves a J word or two of notice. The Prince of Wales honoured the en'erprise by opening it. It is a small line, three miles and a half long, from the Swan at Stockwell, in South London, to the city, near the monument, It is sunk low in the earth, and as a cons'-qenca there has been no purchase of land to add to the cost. The railway passes below the river Thames in a couple of tunnels, which are at this point superposed—that is one above the other, E'sewhere they are side by side, though at varying levels. The use of electricity and a good method of ventilation makes travelling free from all disagreeableness of the underground line, and there is little doubt that the railway will be popular. The electricity is generated at the Stockwell terminus, but I must leave it to the experts to tell yon |in technical phrase bow it is applied so as to work the trains. One thing may be said—that the apparatus produced by Messrs Mather end Piatt, of Salford, is in the highest degree successful, and that the problem of electric traction has been solved to a certainty. So far as can be seen there is no reason why there should not be an indefinate extension of the system, but for trains below the ground there can bo no question that this is the motor of the future. On Stockwell railway there will be no tickets. A common charge of 2d will be made, and this the passenger will himself deposit in a sort oi “ counter-stile” which admits him to the platform. Thus the working expenses will be reduced to a minimum, and the

passengers will be reeved of a nuisance. Altogether Ibis new enterprise is attracting an enormous amount of attention in scientific circles, as well as among the general public.