Recent Developments in the Regulation of Railways in Great Britain

IF THERE is one characteristic of the British situation in regard to the regulation of railways that is outstanding above all others, it is the comparative stability in the position during the twenty years since 1918. It is true that this stability has been tempered by gradual changes and the traditional evolution which has been a feature of British railway development over more than a century, but in contrast to the revolutionary changes which have taken place in France, Germany, the Netherlands, and certain other Continental European countries, the British railway position has continued basically unchanged, and the provisions of the Railways Act, 1921, remain the charter of British railway procedure and endeavor. Just as the Transportation Act, 1920, with the amendments it carried to the Interstate Commerce Act of 1887, may be regarded as the means by which the American railways turned from a wartime to a peacetime footing, so one must go back to the Act of 1921 to understand the background of the British railways situation. There is, however, no need to deal here with the details of that Act,1 the provisions of which are well known to students of transportation throughout the United States. It will be sufficient to remind the reader that as from the commencement of 1923, the twentyseven major systems and nearly one hundred smaller lines were amalgamated into four large railways, roughly regional in area but with most of the

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