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. 1 1917 (June 1 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. Throughout 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. 1 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 Government, 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 considerable 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 reduction of record-keeping to a minimum, the abolition of detailed statements between railway companies and Railway Clearing House work; but to a great extent women were employed in direct replacement of men who had been released with but little adjustment of their duties. A total of 55,000 women were thus employed in railway 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 subservient 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 progressed, 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 stations 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 Immingham, 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. Frequently 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 reduced lighting generally maintained throughout the more vulnerable 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 possibility 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
