Alan Williams

摘要

A hundred years ago this month the first trains ran on the'Riverside Electric', the London & South Western Railway's third rail electrification of the suburban lines from Waterloo into the Thames Valley. Authorised by the LSWR Board in December 1912, it was intended that, despite the then novelty of the scheme, all 144 track miles would be ready by December 1914, just two years later. Initial progress was good, but events in Europe in August 1914 intervened, and the diversion of men and materials to the war effort slowed further development. Nevertheless, despite this and the added frisson of possible Zeppelin attacks, the first train ran from Waterloo to Wimbledon on 25 October 1915 and all 51!6 route miles were open by June 1916, just over 31/2 years after initial authorisation. At the end of that year, the LSWR Board was told that the total cost had been £1,365,000, of which £342,000 was for a new power station at Durnsford Road - something which today's electrifiers don't have to worry about! So just over a million pounds for 144 track miles of electrification, including 84 three-car electric units. That's about £94 million at today's prices, or £653,000 per track mile including trains and the cost of any necessary infrastructure changes. The Riverside Electric was of course the forerunner of the extensive Southern Railway electrifications of the next two decades, but the overall cost didn't increase by much. By 1939, there were 1,746 track miles of conductor rail at a total cost including trains and infrastructure changes of £705,085 per track mile at 2015 prices.