"Altogether, British Railways sent no fewer than 700 locomotives to France, Egypt, Mesopotamia, Salonika, and other parts of the front from a total stock of 22,000 engines. Meanwhile they had difficulty in repairing their locomotives and wagons at home owing to lack of labour and materials. At the present moment the railways are working their goods traffic with about 80,000 wagons fewer than in 1913."
Sir Herbert said that in October the staff of the railways was about 17,000 less than in 1913, and yet accidents had decreased.
Up to October the railways had released 180,796 of their men for service in the forces, equal to about 30 per cent. of their employees. Special railway units dealing with military railway construction and operation took 24,176 of these men.
A White Paper issued by Sir Auckland Geddes for the Board of Trade gave some results of Government control of railways during the war. It had been commonly stated that the systems were operated at a heavy loss, but that was because the immense military traffic was not charged as revenue. With such traffic charges very substantial profits have been made—up to £55,000,000 in 1917.
Sir Albert Wyon and Sir William Plender have prepared a statement showing the value of the Government traffic if charged for at authorised pre-war rates during the period from August 5th, 1914, to December 31st, 1918, as follows:—
| Year | Government Traffic. £ |
|---|---|
| 1914 (part of) | 3,500,000 |
| 1915 | 10,279,104 |
| 1916 | 20,649,126 |
| 1917 | 35,698,554 |
| 1918 | 41,917,024 |
| Total | 112,043,808 |
These figures are in respect of railway transit only, "The railway companies have performed a number of additional services
