Taken from the Kearney Files
Reprint from The British Australasian and New Zealander, London.
Correspondence Columns, May 6th 1937.
To the Editor of the British Australasian and New Zealander,
Dear Sir, - Few people seem to be aware of the root cause of the trouble with the bus men. It is a matter of history, and to discover the reason it is necessary to go back to 1902, when most of the present tubes were designed and shortly afterwards built. Those were the days of horse buses and the tubes had hardly been opened for traffic when the motorbus became a reality. Passengers in their millions deserted the tubes for the faster surface travel and the financiers who had backed the Underground saw that they must obtain control of the various bus companies if they were not to lose part of their business.
More serious still, a new and better tube system had been proposed and recommended by the Royal Commission on London Traffic, whose report was issued in 1905.
By careful manoeuvering the Underground succeeded in cornering the buses in 1911, thus forming the Traffic Combine. By systematic obstruction they also succeeded in suppressing the new tube system.
After the war a new set of competitors appeared in the shape of numerous so-called "pirate" buses, and the jockeying for control again went on, culminating in the formation of the London Passenger Transport Board in 1933, ostensibly a socialistic measure but actually the consolidation and protection of the capitalistic interests in the Underground. The pooling of income had as its effect the obscuring of the enormous profits which were being made by the buses and the meagre returns earned by the tubes, now sunk into financial straits by the orgy of escalator building and other non - productive expenditure. Every additional length of tube built on the present system will tend to load down the common interests of all concerned. These must be met either by demanding more from the men in increased work, or from the public in the shape of increased fares, or by scaling down of the fixed interest payable on the "A" and "B" Stock of the L.P.T.B. The "C" Stock is already adjusting itself. The alternative is so obvious that it is liable for that very reason to be overlooked. Iris to adopt the very system recommended by the Royal Commission of thirty years ago for the new tubes which are wanted in every direction . It is the system which has so often been advocated in The British Australasian and New Zealander -- the Kearney Tube -- the invention of an Australian engineer. Mr Chalmers Kearney.
This system would provide transport at a speed of at least double that possible that possible on the present tubes at about half the cost for the operation and at a reduction of 30 per cent of capital expenditure. No escalators or lifts are necessary, for the stations would be either on or just below street level. Gravity would provide 85 per cent of the accelerating power and 85 per cent of braking. Wear and tear would be negligible.
In 1925 a very large deputation representing the County Councils of Middlesex and Essex, twelve Metropolitan Borough Councils and numerous other bodies waited on the Minister of Transport to urge the immediate construction of the first Kearney Tube so that the system might be demonstrated for use in London.
The deputation favourably received and a course of action was advised but when taken by Mr Kearney and his supporters it was rejected. Every attempt to get the system established has been blocked. The reason has been given by Lord Ashfield, namely that " the first Kearney Tube would put the whole London Underground out of date". This may have been a valid reason from the Underground point of view at one time, but it does hold good now that they have a monopoly. And as to the tubes being put out of date, they are out of date now and are responsible for the chaos which has been brought to London traffic, and if continued on the present lines are likely to bring about a total collapse of the London Passenger Transport Board itself. In its own interests the Board should apply to Mr Kearney to construct a short section of his railway without delay so that it's claims , which are supported by a long list of eminent engineers , maybe demonstrated for all to see.
Yours faithfully
J. Spender
Fleet Street London.
Reprint from The British Australasian and New Zealander, London.
Correspondence Columns, May 6th 1937.
To the Editor of the British Australasian and New Zealander,
Dear Sir, - Few people seem to be aware of the root cause of the trouble with the bus men. It is a matter of history, and to discover the reason it is necessary to go back to 1902, when most of the present tubes were designed and shortly afterwards built. Those were the days of horse buses and the tubes had hardly been opened for traffic when the motorbus became a reality. Passengers in their millions deserted the tubes for the faster surface travel and the financiers who had backed the Underground saw that they must obtain control of the various bus companies if they were not to lose part of their business.
More serious still, a new and better tube system had been proposed and recommended by the Royal Commission on London Traffic, whose report was issued in 1905.
By careful manoeuvering the Underground succeeded in cornering the buses in 1911, thus forming the Traffic Combine. By systematic obstruction they also succeeded in suppressing the new tube system.
After the war a new set of competitors appeared in the shape of numerous so-called "pirate" buses, and the jockeying for control again went on, culminating in the formation of the London Passenger Transport Board in 1933, ostensibly a socialistic measure but actually the consolidation and protection of the capitalistic interests in the Underground. The pooling of income had as its effect the obscuring of the enormous profits which were being made by the buses and the meagre returns earned by the tubes, now sunk into financial straits by the orgy of escalator building and other non - productive expenditure. Every additional length of tube built on the present system will tend to load down the common interests of all concerned. These must be met either by demanding more from the men in increased work, or from the public in the shape of increased fares, or by scaling down of the fixed interest payable on the "A" and "B" Stock of the L.P.T.B. The "C" Stock is already adjusting itself. The alternative is so obvious that it is liable for that very reason to be overlooked. Iris to adopt the very system recommended by the Royal Commission of thirty years ago for the new tubes which are wanted in every direction . It is the system which has so often been advocated in The British Australasian and New Zealander -- the Kearney Tube -- the invention of an Australian engineer. Mr Chalmers Kearney.
This system would provide transport at a speed of at least double that possible that possible on the present tubes at about half the cost for the operation and at a reduction of 30 per cent of capital expenditure. No escalators or lifts are necessary, for the stations would be either on or just below street level. Gravity would provide 85 per cent of the accelerating power and 85 per cent of braking. Wear and tear would be negligible.
In 1925 a very large deputation representing the County Councils of Middlesex and Essex, twelve Metropolitan Borough Councils and numerous other bodies waited on the Minister of Transport to urge the immediate construction of the first Kearney Tube so that the system might be demonstrated for use in London.
The deputation favourably received and a course of action was advised but when taken by Mr Kearney and his supporters it was rejected. Every attempt to get the system established has been blocked. The reason has been given by Lord Ashfield, namely that " the first Kearney Tube would put the whole London Underground out of date". This may have been a valid reason from the Underground point of view at one time, but it does hold good now that they have a monopoly. And as to the tubes being put out of date, they are out of date now and are responsible for the chaos which has been brought to London traffic, and if continued on the present lines are likely to bring about a total collapse of the London Passenger Transport Board itself. In its own interests the Board should apply to Mr Kearney to construct a short section of his railway without delay so that it's claims , which are supported by a long list of eminent engineers , maybe demonstrated for all to see.
Yours faithfully
J. Spender
Fleet Street London.
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