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Effects Of The Railways Upon The English Canal System

This is Chapter 2 from 'The Canal System of England' follows Chapter 1 - History of English Canals

Its growth and present condition, with particular reference to the cheap carriage of goods - 1904 - by H. Gordon Thompson

Apparently, our canal system had never before presented so brilliant a prospect, but a blow seems to have been struck at its development and progress by the invention and perfection of the steam-engine, and the corresponding introduction of railways.

The projectors of this new method of transit met with very strong opposition from two very powerful classes of the community, land-owners, and canal-owners.

From September 30th, 1830, the day on which the * (* Present State of the Nation. Bohn's Series.) first railway was opened between Manchester and Liverpool, this new method of transport proceeded almost without interruption. It gave to the country the equivalent of swiftly navigable rivers, and as its ramifications extended, land-owners found their property increasing instead of decreasing in value, while the years 1840-1846 saw the people of this country possessed by what has been aptly termed "the railway mania."

It is a significant fact that although in 1846 such Canals as the Trent and Mersey and the Oxford were paying dividends of 20% to 30%, yet many of the Canal owners of this country, expecting that their invested capital would be rendered valueless actually attempted to coerce the Railway Companies into purchasing their Canals. The Railway Companies, realising that in buying up the canals, they were stifling future competition, were not slow to take advantage of the situation, with the result that during the years 1845-48 they were permitted, if not encouraged, to purchase nearly 1,000 miles of waterways, a total subsequently increased to 1264 miles.

The natural consequence of this change of ownership was the complete cessation of barge canal construction, and by these means the Railway Companies almost succeeded, as Mr. Conder forcibly expressed it before the Select Committee of 1883, "in strangling the whole of the inland water traffic." * (* Appendix 11. Page 238.)

The great difficulty in bringing home the deadly effect of this change of ownership, is due to the fact that no reliable statistics upon the subject are available yet statistics are not necessary for the most casual observer cannot fail to note the decayed condition not only of the traffic but of the antiquated locks and general structure of our inland navigations.

It was not until the year 1872, that the subject of Inland Navigation was again brought forward and thoroughly investigated. A joint committee of the two Houses of Parliament was appointed in that year to report upon the condition of the Canal System, and their report, which was afterwards adopted by Parliament itself, recognised that the chief difficulty in the way of improvement was the fact that the railways had bought up many of the connecting links of through routes.

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