Accrington on Rails - The Tramways: A Complete History - Robert Kenyon

gauge it, and there is no sound means of gauging this at present.

Q. What I wanted to establish was to translate not so much the heads of the population, as to the frequency of the services? A. I believe that if we ran a service with a frequency of every twenty-minutes it would thoroughly accommodate the needs of the travelling public. Mr Arthur William Blunt was then sworn in. Q. You are the Secretary of the Accrington Corporation Steam Tramway Company, are you not? A. I am. Q. I believe you can give me figures for the population. A. Yes. Q. Accrington has a population of 31,435 has it not? A. That is correct, and increasing by about 1,000 per year. Q. Clayton-le-Moors in round figures about 6,700? A. Y es. Q. And Church 4,850? A. Yes. Q. Baxenden 1,500? A. Yes. Q. That gives us a total of 44,480 with the current system of tramway services? A. That is correct. Q. Haslingden has a population of 14,300? A. Actually 14,333. Q. Rawtenstall has 12,571? A. Yes . Q. And Oswaldtwistle 12,300. A. Yes. Q. That gives a total of nearly 40,000 in the new tramway districts, and with the old district a total of 83,590? A. Yes, 83,590. Q. Can you tell the Committee what number of passengers the Tramway Company carried up to the 31 st of January on the line following its opening? A. Yes, 614,729. Q. In what space of time? ( From an un-named Lord. ) A. In ten and a half months. Q. I believe the largest proportions of those were carried at the 2 pence fare? A. There were 427,566 passengers at the 2 pence fare Sir. The meeting was adjourned at 11:00. Edward Morley Chubb. (Solicitor for the Bill.) Martin & Leslie. (Parliamentary Agents.) Having satisfied all of the conditions the Tramway Company opened its first extension in August 1887. The Company then offered the Corporation the paltry sum of £5 per annum as acknowledgements of the Corporation’s rights, whilst contending that they were not entitled to any compensation whatsoever! The Corporation retaliated by blocking the Tramway Company from exercising its powers, by serving notice that it should cease running beyond the Borough boundary in Baxenden, to come into effect at midnight on December 31 st , 1887. January Two letters dated December 24 th and January 6 th from the Tramway Company were presented to a meeting of the General Works Committee, complaining the snow had stopped the trams from running. The Town Clerk was authorised to reply, by stating that the Corporation was not bound to clear the tramway tracks and would not entertain such a ‘liability’. The Committee were of the opinion that the problems were due to a lack of foresight by the managers of the tramway!

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