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 been accused of want of enterprise because they have not yet adopted motor vehicles, against which they are said to have a prejudice. But these accusations are absurd. Omnibus proprietors are convinced that when a really reliable electric 'bus has been invented, it will pay to adopt it. So far that omnibus has not been discovered although for two or three years the proprietors have examined carefully every vehicle brought before them.

In the spring of 1900 the Central London Railway was opened, and proved to be the most formidable rival that omnibuses have had since the introduction of tramways. The new electric railway runs from Shepherd's Bush to the Bank, the fare for the whole journey being twopence. The omnibus fare for the same distance was fivepence. The London General Omnibus Company, which has practically a monopoly of the road between Shepherd's Bush and Marble Arch, soon felt the effects of the Central London Railway's cheap fares and quick travelling, and found it necessary to transfer many of their Shepherd's Bush omnibuses to other routes.

With other electric railways projected, it is said,