Page:New York arcade railway as projected .. (McAlpine, William Jarvis, 1884).djvu/7

 COMPARISON OF THE PROPOSED NEW YORK ARCADE RAILWAY, WITH THE UNDERGROUND RAILWAYS OF LONDON.

results of the construction and operation of the Underground Railways of London, have demonstrated not only the feasibility of the New York Arcade Railway, hut have also shown that the apprehensions sometimes expressed, that adjacent private property would be injured and the traffic of the street partly inconvenienced, are wholly without foundation in fact.

The large and steady increase in the traffic and net revenues of these London Railways, gives assurance that the one projected for New York will prove a successful enterprise.

The correctness of these statements will be shown by the following comparisons between the "Inner Circle" of the two London Railways and the New York Arcade.

The "Inner Circle" comprises twelve miles of circumference, enclosing about seven square miles, mainly of the heart of London.

First:—This London line has been built chiefly under or through the most costly property in the world, and less than one-third of its length passes under the streets (Euston, Marylebone and Embankment) thus adding immeasurably to the difficulties and obstructions to be met and overcome, and as a consequence enhancing greatly the dangers and cost of construction.

The New York Railway will pass entirely under the streets, and in no instance under or near any valuable buildings or property.

Second:—Four miles of the London Railways have been built with the grades from thirteen to twenty feet below tide water level.

The New York Railway will have less than a third of a mile of its grade below tide level, and at its deepest place but five feet below low tide.

Third:—The excavations for the London Railways have been made chiefly in stiff clay, and in many places among the walls and debris of the old Roman works, in others they had to be made by small divided tunnels and strong wooden protections, involving expensive work.

The excavations for the New York Railway will be chiefly sand and gravel, though some ten per cent, of the distance will be in rock, which must be quarried, but as a whole, the cost of the excavation will be considerably less.

Fourth:—The crossing streets of the London Railway are crooked and very narrow, and portions of them have been occupied during the construction of the underground works.