Page:EB1911 - Volume 27.djvu/627

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Railways.—The first ordinary roads deserving the name of highways were made about, and canal-building began in the middle of the following century; but though roads and s aided materially in raising the commercial and industrial activity of the nation, their fostering agency was very slight compared with that of , of which England is the birthplace. The first line of for regular passenger service, that from Stockton to, m. in length, was opened on the th of September. The first really important was the line from Manchester to, opened on the th of September , when , was accidentally killed. It took three years to get the bill for the - railway, which was passed at last in the session of, obtaining the royal assent on the th of May. The first sod of the great line was cut at Chalk Farm, London, on the st of June. Enormous engineering difficulties had to be overcome, originating not so much from the nature of the ground as from intense public prejudice against the new mode of locomotion. It took over four years to construct the railway from London to Birmingham, at a cost exceeding £. Even friends of the presaged that such outlay could not by any possibility be remunerative; but the contrary became evident from the moment the line was opened on the th of September. All the great of England sprang into existence within less than ten years after the opening of the London-Birmingham line. Out of this grew one of the largest companies, the London & North-Western; while the most extensive system as regards mileage, the Great Western, originated in a line from Paddington, London, to, for which an act of parliament was obtained in, and which was opened in. In a bill passed the erecting the “Great North of ” Railway Company, from which developed the North-Eastern system. A few years later other acts were passed, sanctioning the “Midland Counties” and the “North Midland” lines, from which the present Midland system grew.

The total length of railways conveying passengers in the United Kingdom at the end of the year was m., constructed at a cost of £. Five years later, at the end of, there were not more than m., built at a cost of £, but at the end of there were m., costing £. Thus, in the first five years of construction, from  to, the mileage doubled; while in the second five years, from  to , it trebled. It quintupled in the next five-yearly period. till the end of, when the total length of miles of railway in the kingdom had come to be , built at a cost of £, as represented by the paid-up capital of the various companies. The next five years saw nearly another doubling of length of lines, for at the end of there were m. of  created by a paid-up capital of £. Not far from a fresh trebling took place in the course of the next quinquennial period, and at the end of there were m. of, constructed at the cost of £.