Now, suppose the uniform fare of 1s. each way had come into operation, she or some other member of the family would, no doubt, have come up at least once a week, and instead of one return ticket which cost £2, and would be included in the Board of Trade returns as two passenger journeys, the family would have only paid 16s. for the eight double journeys, the extra cost to the Government would be nil and the increase in the number of passenger journeys would be 14.
It is not unusual to see long distance trains arrive in London with not more than 15 or 20 passengers.
(b) As to goods traffic.
For the purposes of the estimates of goods traffic there must be added to existing total receipts from goods train traffic the amount included in the official returns under the head of “passenger traffic” of £10,000,000 received for mails, luggage, and other goods carried by passenger trains, making the total revenue for goods at present of £74,000,000. There is no official Return as to the tonnage of goods carried by passenger trains, but assuming that the present average rate for goods carried by passenger trains is £2 per ton, this would represent a further tonnage, irrespective of passengers’ luggage, of 20,000,000 tons.
The figures under the new scheme, if there should be no increase in the tonnage carried, and assuming that goods by fast service should be no more than the amount now estimated per passenger train, would thus be as follows:—
| By slow service | 524,000,000 | tons | at | 1/6 | £39,300,000 |
| By fast service | 20,000,000 | ” | ” | 10/- | 10,000,000 |
| Live Stock, as now | 1,500,000 | ||||
| £50,800,000 | |||||
| Thus showing a deficiency of about | 23,200,000 | ||||
| as against the present total of | £74,000,000 | ||||
Following the analogy of the passenger traffic, I will only estimate for an increased traffic by fast trains, and for this purpose there will be required:—
48,000,000 tons, which at 10s. equals £24,000,000, and will bring the total to £800,000 more than the present total receipts from goods, by both passenger and goods trains.
This increased tonnage it will be seen is an increase of under 10 per cent. on the present total of 550,000,000 tons. It is probable that with a reduction of freight per fast train to the uniform rate of 10s. per ton, a considerable proportion of existing goods train traffic would be transferred to fast trains, so that the same figure might be arrived at with much less increase in tonnage. This fact may also be taken into account when adjusting any mistake in the official figures of the total tonnage carried.