Fig. 11. An electric train on the Metropolitan District Railway, equipped by the British Thomson Houston Company. The front and rear cars and one intermediate car are equipped with electric motors, all controlled from the 'cab' at the end of the train. The controller handle may be seen close to the nearest window of the first car. The rail immediately in front of the foot of the guard is the conductor rail which conveys the current to the train. The rail between the track rails carries the return current.
Throughout the steam age the finance of the District Railway Company was as unattractive as the physical conditions of the railway itself. No dividend was ever paid on the ordinary shares; and even with the growth of London there was little prospect of any dividend ever being paid. When—about ten years ago—the late Mr C. T. Yerkes came over from America and obtained a controlling interest in the District Railway Company with a view to converting it to electric traction, he was regarded as a philanthropic enthusiast. Many of the shareholders themselves were reluctant to give their assent to the change; they preferred to bear the ills they knew than fly to others which might be introduced by an American financier.
But Mr Yerkes and those who worked with him had something more in view than the improvement of traffic on the District Railway. They acquired control of several tube railway schemes and obtained powers for new lines, so as to organise a comprehensive system of underground electric transport in London. They had sufficient faith in the traffic possibilities of London to find the enormous capital required to construct these tube railways and also to convert the whole District Railway to electric traction. The constructional work occupied several years; and after the lines were opened one by one, arrangements had to be developed for through-bookings among the various lines and between them all and the existing underground railways like the Central London Railway, the Metropolitan Railway (closely linked with the Metropolitan District) and the City and South London Railway. A systematic attempt was also made to develop the travelling habit in London by persistent advertising of the railway services and by increasing the frequency and rapidity of the trains. From these points of view the organisation of the network of lines comprehensively known by the title of 'Underground' is certainly unsurpassed.
The difficulties which had to be overcome in this great work were enormous, but there has been no break in the thread of progress. The 'tubes' are paying dividends which, though modest, are an encouragement to further developments. The finance of the District Railway has lost its element of chronic despair. Considered as a whole, the results prove that where there is the potentiality of large traffic, electricity is the instrument which must be applied. During the steam days, the most crowded part of the District Railway (the 'Inner Circle') carried a maximum of 16 trains per hour. With electric traction that figure has been raised to 40 trains per hour. And the remarkable thing is that with each increase in the service the traffic grows. Many people welcomed the electrification of the District as a measure of relief from the overcrowding on the steam trains during the busy hours. But with a service of trains more than doubled in frequency and also increased in capacity per train, overcrowding continues and the 'straphanger' has become an established institution.
It may be accepted as substantially proved that, on suburban and inter-urban railways in populous districts, electric traction is a means of increasing traffic and diminishing the proportion of working costs. Moreover, these results have been achieved in conjunction with substantial reductions in fares and with marked improvements in the comfort of travelling.
The engineering aspect of these changes has now to be considered.