Identifier: storyofrapidtran00willrich (find matches)
Title: The story of rapid transit
Year: 1903 (1900s)
Authors: Willson, Beckles, 1869-
Subjects: Local transit -- History
Publisher: New York : D. Appleton and company
Contributing Library: University of California Libraries
Digitizing Sponsor: MSN

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assedauthorizing the line, and the works began in1860. Three years later the first section of theline—Paddington to Farringdon Street—wasopened, in which year the Lords Committeerecommended that the inner circle of the furtherprojected lines should abut upon, if not actuallyjoin, most of the principal railway termini in themetropolis. The total length of the inner circleis 13 miles 176 yards, two miles of which lengthis laid with four lines of rails, and the total lengthof the two underground systems is over fortymiles. Even when the utmost precautions aretaken, tunneling through a town is a risky opera-tion. Settlements may occur years after the com-pletion of the works; water mains may be brokenin the streets and in the houses; stone staircasesmay fall down; and other unpleasant symptoms ofunstability may show themselves. But rapidtransit was the goal in view; in the case of Lon-don, and, indeed, all large cities, railways^ de-signed for local service must of necessity be either
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-bit_ O jt *rtOS •a(t> ^—» rt> o S ESS 190 THE STORY OF RAPID TRANSIT sunk below or raised above the street level; andLondon public opinion was against the elevatedrailway, which has had such a great success inNew York and Liverpool. By means of the newUnderground it became possible, no matterhow congested the street traffic, to reach theBank from Hammersmith, a distance of sevenmiles, traversing or rather following the line ofmost resistance, in twenty minutes. Here, then,we see a vast improvement as regards economyof time. In 1800 a walk (there was no otherpopular means of transit) to the Bank from Ham-mersmith occupied about two hours; in 1850 theomnibus did the journey in fifty minutes. But New York was soon to be better servedthan London. In 1867 the first attempt wasmade to improve existing means of transitbetween the residential and the business quar-ters of the city by the construction of an ele-vated railway actuated by a wire rope and astationary engine. The under

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