3211. Now, you have dealt with the question of goods. There would be a certain amount of necessary passenger traffic to the Clearing House, would there not? --- Yes, the employees and members of the public who would have business at the Clearing House. I take there would be some thousands of both classes coming to and leaving the Clearing House every day.
3212. I take it that with regard to the employees of course those are the only people who would use the actual Clearing House tubes ; the general public would not use them otherwise? --- That is so ; there are two lines, one on either side of the Clearing House, connecting up with the Clearing House tubes, which have platform accommodation, and trains from the Great Eastern system, for example, would be brought in on the ordinary goods tubes and taken in along that platform and unloaded. Similarly, passengers from the south- eastern district would come up on this line (Indicating) of the Clearing House; also passengers, perhaps, from the Midland and the Great Northern Railways would come in on the North. Those would be dealt with on the platform on that side. But, of course, that does not cover the whole passenger question by a long way; it deals only with those people who happen to live on those particular lines.
3213. Mr. Gattie has said in his evidence that there would be no objection, from his point of view, to arranging for any excursion or other particular trains going through the Clearing House. Do you, yourself, see any objections to that? ---- Through trains --- passengers?
3214. Any passenger train! --- I do not any objection whatsoever. As we have seen before, there is plenty of room for them.
3215. The only thing is that they would have to alter the engine. You would not allow steam trains through your tubes? --- No, I should prefer not to do so.
3216. With regard to the other section of passengers that might want to come to the goods Clearing House, I take it that it will be a big centre if it is put up. Have you any suggestions to make with regard to the way you would bring them there! --- Mr. Gattie asked me to prepare a scheme which would enable the Clearing House to be reached from practically any Underground station in the Metropolis, so I have proposed a tube railway to effect that, to run from the Post Office ( next to that big excavation where the old Post Office building was) up to Highbury Station. But the difficulty in providing a short tube line like that, although it would fulfil Mr. Hattie's requirements in giving railway connection to all the Underground stations in London, and on some other systems as well, is that such a tube could not, owing to its shortness, be made to pay simply on the traffic that would get to and from the Clearing House, and you would have to extend it north and south to make it a proper tube --- to stand on its own bottom.
3217. To make it self-supporting? --- Yes. You must deal with a bigger area for the collection of traffic. Therefore, i have suggested that it should start at New Cross Station on the London , Brighton and South Coast Railway, where it would connect to change traffic from the Brighton main line, also from East London Underground line; it would then proceed under the lower part of the Old Kent Road station on the Elevated Electric Railway. That would put the tube in connection with all South London via the electrified London, Brighton and South Coast.
3218. I want you to do this shortly, as it is only an adjunct to Mr. Gattie's scheme? ---- Yes. It is simply to enable the people of London to reach the Clearing House in the least possible time. I will mention the other points where it touches the tube railways. Hereat the Borough, connecting with the City and South London to Clapham Common; here at the Post Office, connecting with the Inner Circle. Then there is the Clearing House station; Angel, Islington, connecting with the Great Northern and Piccadilly Tube, and then the line proceeds to about this point (off the map) to a point where it connects with the Highgate Station of the Highgate branch of the Hampstead Tube.
3219. And for that tube, you yourself would advise the Kearney High-Speed Tube? --- Well, naturally.
Here ends the first part of Elfric Wells Chalmers Kearney's examination by W. H. Gattie.
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