When foreigners come to London the one thing that they unreservedly and justly admire is our means of public transport. Our buses and trams could not be excelled, and considering the density of traffic they are amazingly punctual; while for bright cleanliness, comfort, speed, cheapness and extensiveness vur under ground lines are without equal. It may be added that if you write to the London Passenger Transport Board with a complaint, putting your case courteously, they will take immense pains to meet it, as I can personally vouch.
Something of the enormous responsibilities of the LP.T.B, is shown in the annual report just published, Including the main line railways suburban trains, it carried last year 4,317,979,132 passengers—87,000,000 more than the year before, Of these 300,000,000 were bound for theatres and cinemas; 11,000,000 went to "the dogs"; 7,500,000 flocked to football matches; 7,000,000 browsed round museums; 6,000,000 took the air in the Zoo or at Kew.
Among all these travellers a total of 320,949 articles left behind on seats or racks seems trivial. In fact it was 27,528 less than the year before. England is waking up, whatever critics may say of its Government.
But the LP.T.B. is seriously worried about its revenue. With such an increase in passengers, net earnings at £3,575,572 were some £365,000 less than the year before, owing to heavier taxation, wages and fuel bills. The holders of the old underground and bus stock have never had the dividends promised them. You may argue, of course, that the public convenience comes first.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.