British Railways' Route System and the Distribution of Traffic Density
In 1961, British Railways had a total route mileage of 17,830 and a running track mileage of 34,150.
The route mileage was made up approximately as follows:—
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No. of tracks Route miles Miles open for freight only
Route with four tracks or over 1,500 100
Route with three tracks 400 100
Route with double track 10,000 1,200
Single track 5,900 2,700
17,800 4,100
The total cost of maintaining this route system and of maintaining and operating the associated signalling system, exclusive of any allocation of interest on the capital employed, is £110 m. per annum. This is the cost of providing only the route on which trains can be run, i.e. the cost of providing the signalled track.
The estimated casts per route mile and the total costs of track in the various maintenance categories are shown below. Estimates in this form can only be broad approximations, but they serve to show the high cost of even low category routes.
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The total cost of providing the route system, which, it should be emphasised, excludes the costs of associated sidings, yards, stations, and depots, amounts to nearly a quarter of the railways' total revenue. This is a fixed cost, in the full sense of the term, all the while the route system remains unchanged, and its high level emphasises the necessity for matching the railway system to available traffics so as to ensure a high average level of loading. Moreover, the figures: for the cost per mile of various categories of route make it clear that quite high traffic densities are necessary, even on single track route, to cover route cost alone.
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