I cannot close this chapter introducing the subject of tramways, without reference to the “Rush for the Trams” that attracted so much attention last year. The rushes in the Blackfriars Bridge Road began shortly after five o’clock and continued until seven p.m., and were described in the daily journals as follows: “South London, thanks to the L.C.C., rejoices in an excellent tram service. There are many trams going everywhere within a reasonable distance—Streatham, Greenwich, Tooting, New Cross. Now, however hard or however fast you rush at a tram, it is not to be bullied into holding more than a certain number. If, however, you rush sufficiently fiercely and with sufficient violence, you may either knock or frighten out of the way a girl who has been waiting longer than you. Some genius discovered this and rushed; others, not to be beaten, rushed also. The result is that every evening the Blackfriars Road is the scene of a savage fight for the incoming trams, where men and women meet in unequal strife.... All notions of chivalry, of ‘ladies first,’ are thrown to the winds, apparently, on these occasions, with the result that many young girls, weak women and children, rather than share in the unequal strife, are content to walk all the way home.... Long before the trams arrive at the starting-point, they are boarded at either end, and a jovial crowd, knocking off one another’s hats, poking out one another’s eyes, swarms on to them. As an entertainment, this is not without merit; as an exhibition of the passions, it is undoubtedly interesting. But if you happen to be weak or a woman and want to get on one of these cars, it is possible you will fail to consider these things. Only a day or two ago a fatal accident occurred in the rush for the trams. Such a serious case is, no doubt, rare, but small injuries must be of frequent occurrence, torn clothes and bruises part of the daily round, the common talk of those who struggle for the trams. It is unpleasantly common to see women knocked off their feet and dragged in the road. Nor is the Blackfriars terminus the only battlefield. The Westminster Bridge Road is no whit better, and there, with a roadway somewhat narrower and a somewhat larger quantity of quick traffic, the danger is even greater.”
The remedy for this state of affairs was thus significantly pointed out:—
“When electricity is fully adopted the service will be able to deal with a larger traffic, for, although the same number of cars will be running, they will run faster, and each will carry 50 per cent. more passengers, so that the carrying capacity of the line will be much increased. Till then there is no hope of improvement. It is impossible with horse traction to run more cars, or run them faster.”
CHAPTER XII
LONDON’S TRAMWAYS
“When all is done, the help of good counsel is that which setteth business straight.”—Bacon.
THE L.C.C. AND LONDON’S TRAFFIC
ALL tramways within the boundaries of the County of London—an area of some 16½ by 12 miles—will eventually be controlled and worked by the London County Council, who, under the Tramways Act of 1870, have the power of purchasing, either compulsorily at the expiration of twenty-one years from the passing of the Act, or by agreement, any tramway undertaking within their official territory. A heavy responsibility truly; but whether for good or for evil, municipal trading has come to stay, and the principle as applied to tramways seems to be particularly appropriate in this, our great metropolis, with whose locomotive system none but a very powerful and experienced governing body can ever hope to successfully cope.
Mr. J. Allen-Baker, the vice-chairman of the L.C.C.’s Highways Committee, reporting on the subject of our congested highways, said: “Even though there should be no future increase in street traffic, I believe it to be the imperative duty of the Council to seek a remedy, and how much more when we feel assured that London will keep growing, and that within the next thirty years both a water and locomotive service will have to be provided for an estimated population (in Greater London) of probably not less than ten or twelve million people; and whatever the growth outwards may be, the best system of rapid transit for the central districts will always become more and more essential. If, therefore, we are to cope with either our present or our future requirements, and prevent our streets from becoming really impassable, it is, in my judgment, our duty to take up the subject at once, and seek from His Majesty’s Government those additional powers and amendments to existing Acts of Parliament that will enable the Council, as the central authority, to carry out these improvements in the interests of the whole metropolis.”
I doubt if anybody realises the gigantic scale of Greater London’s street traffic, so much of it being hidden away. It is estimated that in one year travellers by cabs and omnibuses number 580,000,000, and by tramways 400,000,000. By Underground, Tube, and suburban railways 890,000,000 travel; and should the metropolis increase at the rate expected by Mr. J. Allen-Baker, in thirty years’ time there will be something like 4,000,000,000, or 11,000,000 human beings per diem, moving about on wheels or on foot.
All these facts will doubtless be carefully considered, and, if possible, the problem of London’s traffic solved, by the Royal Commission—Sir David Miller Barbour, K.C.S.I., K.C.M.G., in the chair—appointed in February last to deal with the subject. (vide Chapter IX.). It is authorised to report:—