Page:The Working and Management of an English Railway.djvu/277

 CHAPTER XV.

amount of controversy has taken place during recent years amongst those engaged in the management and working of railways, and also amongst statisticians and others who, as amici curiæ, have taken an interest in the subject, upon the question of the relation of the classes one to another, and their relative productiveness from a revenue-earning point of view, and a great deal of diversity of opinion has been shown to exist, even amongst experts, as to the number of classes into which passenger traffic should be divided, the fares which should be charged, and as to what should be the composition, the speed, and the weight of trains, so as to reduce the amount of unprofitable haulage to a minimum, and, while accommodating to the fullest extent the requirements of the travelling public, to secure the best paying load, and preserve a reasonable margin of profit for those whose capital is embarked in the business of conducting railways.

This question—or group of questions—is to form one of the subjects of debate at the forthcoming meeting of the International Railway Congress at Paris, and as the writer has accepted the honour of acting as reporter on that occasion for the English railway companies, and has consequently had occasion to consider the topic