that the, by then, generous wage and war-bonus concessions to
the railway staff tended to convert the profit to the State into
a deficiency even then a relatively small one.
War Bonuses and Concessions to Staff. As showing the tre-
mendous effect of these concessions it may be mentioned that
for the financial year ended March 31 1920, as compared with
1913, the increased cost of working the railways was estimated at
57,000,000 on account of war wage and other concessions, and
OPERATION OF GOVERNMENT GUARANTEE
1915
1916
1917
1918
Revenue earned by railways over expenditure '
Amount of compensation paid by Government to railway companies
on basis of published accounts for 1913
Profit or Loss to Government
45,1/1.403
46,130,000
958, .SO?
49,420,063
46,319,000
+ ?, 101,061
I
53,85,849
46,515,000
+ 7.-?TO,8dQ
44,068,105
46,576,000
2,507,895
1 Includes estimated value of services rendered by railways to the Government free of charge, as shown in White Paper, Cmd. 402,
apart from value of services rendered to the Government in respect of steamboats, canals, docks, hotels, etc., estimated at from 10,000,000
to {15,000,000 for the war period.
RAILWAYS
229
from 20,000,000 to 25,000,000 due to the eight-hour day and
further concessions then recently granted or under discussion.
In the opinion of experts it is thought, however, that even these
difficulties would not have arisen, at least in so acute a form, had
it not been for the maintenance of pre-war rates and charges
for goods traffic throughout the war period, while it was not
until Jan. i 1917 (June i 1918 in Ireland) that ordinary passenger
fares were increased by 50 per cent., and then mainly with the
object of restricting travel rather than of raising revenue. Had
adjustments been made stage by stage, as was done in the case of
prices in general trade and industry, the financial situation in
regard to railways would have been very greatly improved,
and there would have been relatively little objection to the
increase which became imperative in the post-war period.
Mobilization Traffic. Very complete plans for mobilization
had been prepared by the Railway Executive Committee long
before there was any probability of war, and continually revised
and brought up to date, so that everything was ready for
the wonderful transportation achievements which followed the
declaration of war. Thus between Aug. 10 and 31 no fewer than
670 trains, coming from all parts of the country and conveying
horses, guns, baggage and stores, as well as approximately
120,000 men of all ranks, were dealt with at Southampton Docks
with little interference with ordinary civilian traffic. Through-
out the war period achievements of this character were regularly
accomplished at all the chief embarkation centres and there is
no instance on record of the breakdown of railway arrangements
at any time, even when the tremendous volume of munition and
other traffic conducted in national interests, but not directly
for war purposes, was also placed upon the railways.
Public Railway Transport. During the war period it was
necessary to impose many restrictions upon both passenger and
goods traffic. Excursion and many cheap-fare facilities were
early discontinued, as also tourist and certain other classes of
tickets carrying special facilities. Continental traffic was, of
course, subject to special regulations and from the outbreak of
war Dover became a closed area, such continental steamer
services as were maintained being diverted to other ports. In
fact, at all the great railway ports there were severe restrictions
upon civilian traffic. During 1916 further regulations came into
force for passenger travel, following a process of deceleration of
express trains, partly due to the insertion of stops to enable
them to serve the purpose of trains which were withdrawn in
order to free the lines for Government traffic, and partly in view
of the exceptional loading which became general, and to ease
the strain on permanent way, bridges, etc., which could not be
maintained to usual standards. From Jan. i 1917 still further
restrictions were imposed upon railway travel and conveyance of
luggage; restaurant cars were withdrawn entirely on many lines
and reduced on others, and passenger traffic was allocated to
specific routes where alternatives had hitherto been available
for the same journeys. An increase of 50 per cent, was made
upon ordinary passenger fares and from 10 to 20 per cent, on
season tickets, the issue of which was regulated, while it was
required that they should be shown by each passenger on every
journey made. Certain branch lines were closed, most of the
rail-motor intermediate services withdrawn, and a large number
of stations closed.
Release of Railwaymen. An important object of these reductions
in train services and facilities was to enable railwaymen to be
released to serve with the forces, and altogether no fewer than
184,475 men were thus contributed. This figure represented 49 per
cent, of the staff of military age in railway employ on Aug. 4 1914.
Large numbers of men, apart from Reservists and Territorials, had,
of course, joined voluntarily quite early in the war, but the general
enlistment of railwaymen was not favoured until 1916, by which
time a definite scheme of release had been adopted on a system which
reduced inconvenience to the railway companies to a minimum and
yet enabled reasonable proportions of men to be supplied.
Railway Officers in Government Service. Throughout the war
railway officers of many grades were freely utilized by the Govern-
ment, some for special duties involving commissioned rank in the
army or navy, and others for rendering expert assistance in civilian
capacities to various Government departments. In fact, a con-
siderable number of railway officers in high positions were given
important Government appointments in connexion with various
existing and new State departments. In other instances, railway
officers were temporarily loaned to the Government.
Employment of Women. Comparatively early in the war women
were introduced into many ranks of the railway service, and in due
course they were seen on a wide variety of work at passenger and
goods stations and depots, in engine sheds, on electric trains as
" gatemen " and in a few instances as guards, on cartage and
delivery vans, and in the railway workshops, in addition to more
obvious employment as clerks, waitresses and in booking-offices.
To some extent these measures were rendered practicable by the
discontinuance of the more complicated travel facilities, the reduc-
tion of record-keeping to a minimum, the abolition of detailed state-
ments between railway companies and Railway Clearing House
work; but to a great extent women were employed in direct replace-
ment of men who had been released with but little adjustment of
their duties. A total of 55,000 women were thus employed in rail-
way working, and about 6,000 on munition work in railway shops.
Goods and Mineral Traffic Allocation. Goods and mineral traffic,
especially when the manufacture of munitions on a very large scale
was going on all over the country under Government direction,
became of vital importance, and all other traffic was made sub-
servient thereto. For the control of non-Government traffic a
system of allocation was widely adopted, requiring consignors to
despatch their goods by specified routes and from particular depots
and sometimes on particular days, according to destination, while
at times it was necessary to refuse to accept traffic for a time.
Arrangements had already been made between the leading railway
companies in regard to " common user " of wagons of ordinary type,
while private owners' wagons were brought into the " pool."
Coal Control. A system of coal control was adopted in 1917,
partly due to the necessary discontinuance of a large proportion of
the normal coastal water-borne conveyance of coal, by which each
part of the country drew its coal supplies from specified colliery
areas, and this traffic alone represented an enormous burden.
Military and Naval Traffic. For the needs of the Army and Navy
facilities on a very large scale had to be provided. Apart from the
movements of troops for service overseas, continual streams of
traffic passed to and from the training camps. Leave travel, however
restricted, was inevitably a very big factor, and, as the war pro-
gressed, ambulance trains passed very frequently between the
Channel ports and hospitals in various parts of the country. Among
special facilities which had thus to be afforded may be mentioned the
naval leave trains which ran regularly between the north of Scotland
and London in connexion with the fleet in northern waters, while a
continuous stream of coal trains had to be run between South
Wales and other suitable coal areas and the far north of Scotland for
the use of naval vessels. One of the chief difficulties, indeed, was the
need for using the Highland railway for naval traffic on so large a
scale, and parts of this were doubled during the war in order to
relieve the congestion which necessarily followed the lengthy single-
track mileage of this, as it proved, vitally important line.
Munition Traffic. Widespread munition manufacture necessarily
occasioned a great deal of civilian traffic directly and indirectly in
national interests, while in a number of places ordinarily quiet sta-
tions or branches became very busy owing to the erection of army
camps or of munition works. A few stations had to be specially
erected and several new branch lines made.
Railway Docks and Harbours. As owners of several of the best-
equipped docks and harbours, including new ones such as Imming-
ham, G.C.R., and the King George Dock at Hull, H. & B. and N.E.
Railways, and the new lock entrance at Newport, Alexandra
(Newport & South Wales) Docks & Railway, brought into use
shortly before the outbreak of war, in addition to the older ones,
such as Southampton, the railways provided the nation with some
of the most complete embarkation depots. Most of these became
closed areas, and all of them were used to their fullest capacity,
either for direct war traffic or when the submarine menace diverted
shipping traffic from its accustomed ports.
Railway Steamers. Railway steamers also were widely used, and
of a total of 218 vessels 126 were taken over and 36 lost from various
causes. They were used as transports, for the maintenance of
national supplies, as minesweepers, and as hospital ships. Fre-
quently even those which remained on regular services had to assist
in meeting emergencies, such as the evacuation of Belgian refugees.
Railways and Air Raids. An important difficulty with which the
railways had to deal was that due to the numerous air raids over
Great Britain. Relatively little serious damage was done, but the
fact that traffic had often to be or worked under difficulties, the re-
duced lighting generally maintained throughout the more vulner-
able parts of the country, and the congestion which followed each
cessation of traffic constituted serious hindrances to railway working.
Armoured Trains. Throughout the war period, too, the possi-
bility of invasion had to be faced, and many special arrangements
made with a view to the possible need for transferring the civilian
population from the coast towns to the interior. Several armoured
trains were constructed in the railway workshops, though they were
never called upon for use under service conditions.
Miscellaneous. At many of the principal railway stations free
buffets were installed for the benefit of soldiers and sailors, and in
230
RAILWAYS
some cases these provided special facilities, as at Victoria, S.E. &
C.R., where arrangements were made for the exchange of French
for English money, the amount dealt with reaching a total of approxi-
mately 10,000,000. At one period the railways were severely con-
gested by the traffic due to the evacuation of Belgium, and one result
of this was the continual stream of Belgian soldiers coming to
England on leave to visit their families, a total of 237,000 thus
travelling. At many stations local bodies, such as the V.A.D., etc.,
made very complete arrangements for providing refreshments to
soldiers travelling through and for attendance upon the ambulance
trains. Frequently valuable assistance was given by the various
ambulance associations belonging to the railway service.
BRITISH RAILWAY WORK IN THE WAR
During the war period British railways rendered essential
services on a very large scale, both in regard to traffic require-
ments at home and those associated with active service in the
various war areas. To some extent the former has already been
covered by general reference, but further details must be given.
Military and Naval Special Trains. Between the declaration
of war and the date of the Armistice all the larger railways were
called upon to run special trains conveying officers and men,
frequently with guns, ammunition, horses and equipment, when
passing to a port for embarkation to France or other theatres of
_war. There were also transfers of units between camps, leave
travel and special events, such as the arrival of Canadian, S.
African and other contingents from abroad and their journeys
from ports of arrival to training centres, together with that por-
tion of the American army which passed through the United
Kingdom. In the aggregate the numbers of special trains
operated by the leading railways were very great, and the follow-
ing table shows, as far as information is available, the number
of special trains mainly, if not exclusively, on the passenger side,
run by the railways mentioned, with the numbers of officers and
men who travelled:
Trains
Officers and Men
conveyed
L. & S.W.R.
L. & N.W.R.
G.W.R
N.E.R
L.B. & S.C.R. .
G.E.R
G.C.R
58,859
56,470
33,615
24,172
27,366
13,000
5,663
20,223,954
22,268,000
11,810,290
6,231,293
2,656,726
Three other railways may be mentioned, though their totals
include also ambulance trains, goods and other specials:
Trains
Officers and Men
conveyed
S.E. & C.R. 163,000
M.R 11,502
N.B.R 45,ooo
12,141,933
2,282,000
The numbers of special trains required on the freight side
are more indefinite, as they included many trains run to meet
the needs of the Government munition undertakings and of
coal traffic passing from the colliery areas to the Fleet bases,
and, to some extent, in connexion with the coal control scheme.
However, it may be mentioned that on the London, Brighton &
South Coast railway no fewer than 53,376 special trains were
run mainly for traffic to and from the ports on the system. On
the Great Western railway the total was 63,349 and on the
Great Eastern railway 11,000. To meet the needs of the Fleet
several railways ran 20 or even more trains per day conveying
Admiralty coal. The arrival of the American army in Great
Britain entailed the running of 1,684 special trains on the London
& North-Western railway and 1,139 on the Great Western rail-
way. When the Canadian contingents first arrived in England
the London & South- Western railway was required to run 92
specials from Plymouth alone.
Ambulance Trains. For home service a total of 20 trains was
equipped for army use: G.C.R. 3; G.E.R. 2; G.W.R. 4; L. & Y.R.
2; L. & N.W.R. 5; L. & S.W.R. 2; M.R. 2. There were also two in
Ireland, one each equipped by the G.N. and G.S. & W. railways.
Five naval ambulance trains were also in use, these differing some-
what in regard to internal arrangements and equipment. Many
individual vehicles were also fitted for the purpose of conveying small
numbers of men in ordinary trains, and there were nine other trains
sufficiently equipped to be brought into use as emergency ambulance
trains. For service overseas 30 ambulance trains were equipped by
the home railways, each consisting of 16 bogie coaches. These were
supplied as follows: G.C.R. i; G.E.R. 4; G.W.R. 8; L. & Y.R. 3;
L. & N.W.R. 7; L. & S.W.R. I ; L.B. & S.C.R. I ; M.R. 2; N.E.R. I;
L. & N.W.R. andG.E.R.i jointly; L. & N.W.R. and L.B. & S.C.R. I
jointly. Two trains presented by the United Kingdom Flour Millers'
Association were constructed by the G.E. and G.W. railways joint-
ly, and the Lord Michelham (or " Queen Mary ") presentation train
was equipped by the L.B. & S.C. and L. & N.W. railways. A further
train, known as the Princess Christian Hospital Train, was built by
the Birmingham Carriage & Wagon Company. A majority of these
trains was employed in France, but two went to Egypt and one to
Salonika. When the American army came arrangements were made
for 19 other trains, of the same general type as those previously
supplied for overseas service, to be equipped by British railways for
the use of the U.S.A. forces in France, as follows : G.C.R. I ; G.E.R.
i ; G.W.R. 4; L. & Y.R. 3; L. & N.W.R. 4; L. & S.W.R. I ; M.R. 5.
Twenty-nine others were on order at the date of the Armistice, when,
of course, work was at once suspended. Including spare and extra
vehicles, a total of 822 vehicles was thus adapted for the Government
trains, and 304 for the U.S. trains.
The following numbers of journeys made by ambulance trains on
various railways will indicate the enormous volume of this traffic,
these figures applying, of course, only to the ambulance trains run-
ning on the home railways: L. & N.W.R. 13,318; L. & S.W.R.
io,i73;S.E.&C.R.7,5i5;G.W.R. 5,000; M.R. 3,982; N.B.R. 1,800;
G.E.R. 1,172. This traffic was dealt with at various ports, but it is
worthy of note that no fewer than 3,166 were despatched from the
new Marine station at Dover, uncompleted at the time of the out-
break of war, but finished off at an early date sufficiently to serve
for the transfer of wounded men.
Troop Movement and other Military Traffic. The numbers of
special trains given above will indicate the enormous dimensions
which the traffic entailed by troop movement involved. At suitable
places large numbers of both passenger and goods vehicles had to
be kept in reserve to provide for movements of troops at short notice,
and many of the cross-country or connecting lines proved of special
value in enabling through journeys to be made from one system to
another and by providing alternative routes to avoid congestion.
The North London, Hampstead Junction, and North and South-
West Junction railways carrie.d nearly 14,000 special trains, and on
several dates public traffic was entirely discontinued. The
" widened " lines of the Metropolitan railway, through Farringdon
Street and the connexion to the South-Eastern & Chatham railway
at Ludgate Hill, were used by no fewer than 626,000 special passenger
or goods trains, though this route was restricted by the limited
loading gauge and could not, therefore, be used for ambulance trains
and certain other traffic. The West London railway dealt with
about 150 troop or special trains per month, and the East London a
gross total of about 1,000. Bearing in mind that the magnitude of
the forces involved a tremendous amount of leave travel, it may be
mentioned that, during 1917 only, over 28,000,000 of H.M. forces
travelled free by warrant on the home railways, while nearly 2,000,-
ooo journeys were similarly made by civilians in Government service.
Traffic at Ports. Dover was largely used as a centre for ambulance
train traffic, but at Southampton a very large volume of stores,
munitions and other material was dealt with, besides a considerable
amount of shipping traffic necessarily continued. The Southampton
train ferry to Dieppe was brought into use in Nov. 1917, that at
Richborough, near Sandwich, being completed in Feb. 1918. Both
enabled goods wagons to be sent across without transshipment, and
they were especially useful for the conveyance of tanks, heavy guns,
locomotives, etc. Avonmouth, Devonport and Liverpool were used
as ports for supplying the Mediterranean and Mesopotamian forces.
Immingham and other East Coast ports were largely used for supply-
ing the fleets in more southern waters, while Leith, Aberdeen, Inver-
gordon, Thurso and other Scottish centres were kept very busy in
meeting the demands of the Grand Fleet. Newhaven and Little-
hampton together dealt with nearly 7,000,000 tons of traffic on war
account. In addition to the steamer traffic across the Channel the
South Coast ports, including Richborough, sent over 1,000,000 tons
by means of sea-going barges.
Munition and Admiralty Coal Traffic. Besides the traffic directly
required for the army and navy, the railways had to meet many other
traffic requirements, as indicated by the following: The South-
Eastern & Chatham railway alone conveyed nearly 200,000 tons of
army mails, parcel-post packages and lighter stores not dealt with in
bulk, via Dover and Folkestone. On the London & North- Western
railway nearly 16,000 trains were run for the conveyance of Admir-
alty coal. In many parts of the country extensive forestry work was
undertaken, and the conveyance of the cut timber amounted to
hundreds of thousands of tons on many railways. On the North-
Eastern railway the tonnage of goods conveyed on Government
account amounted to 5,500,000, and of Admiralty coal nearly 12,000,-
ooo tons, while to serve the numerous munition centres in the north-
eastern area involved the conveyance of some 84,000,000 workpeople.
On the Great Western railway at one time no fewer than 360 addi-
tional trains had to be run daily, solely for the conveyance of
workers to the various war factories.
RAILWAYS
231
Locomotives and Rolling Stock sent Overseas. A number of loco-
motives under construction for various colonial and foreign railways
were commandeered by the Government and diverted for use in
France and elsewhere, while large orders were given for the building
of engines by British firms for use in France. A total of 247, of a
contemplated order for 500 of the 28-0 type alone, was con-
structed. But to meet immediate needs it was necessary for British
railways to supply considerable numbers of engines from their own
stocks, mainly for France, though some went to Egypt, Mesopo-
tamia, and Salonika. The total locomotives thus supplied num-
bered 675, of which the L. & N.W.R. provided in; G.W.R. 95;
M.R. 78; N.E.R. 50; G.C.R. 33; and G.N.R. 23; the remainder
being sent by other companies. In addition, 30,000 goods wagons
were sent overseas, together with 100 special wagons and 40 3O-ton
coal wagons. The Great Central railway constructed six engines to
the design adopted for the War Department 2-8-0 locomotives
which were, in fact, substantially to G.C.R. designs; 2,500 2o-ton
covered wagons were built in railway workshops.
Besides the standard-gauge rolling stock, large numbers of steam,
petrol, and petrol-electric locomotives of small types, and wagons
of various designs, for use on the light railways in France, were built
by various firms, though not much of this work was done by the
railway companies beyond the equipment of Ford cars as rail trac-
tors at Crewe Works. A considerable amount of permanent way was,
however, sent overseas by the home railway companies, partly by
taking up certain light-traffic branch lines or by converting double
lines to single track, and also to a considerable extent from stock.
A great quantity of bridge parts, machinery, cranes and other
material was also supplied from stock, while the equipment of the
army railway workshops in France was largely provided by the
various railway companies.
War Work in Railway Shops. As already mentioned, this was
undertaken to the value of about 17,000,000, and covered a wide
range of products from ambulance stretchers, road vans and gun-
carriages to the repair of cartridge cases and the production of shell
cases, frequently of large sizes. Several travelling workshop trains
were also equipped in the British railway shops. In a number of
instances, too, railway companies undertook the repair of Belgian
and other locomotives sent over from France.
The Railway Troops. -As already mentioned, a total of 184,475
men was released from railway service to join H.M. forces. They
were largely utilized in the formation of, or transferred to, the various
sections known generically as the Railway Troops attached to the
Royal Engineers. A number of the companies were recruited mainly
from the men of a particular railway, especially in the case of the