Electrification in Britain.

Railway electrification continues to make steady progress on the continent, and somewhat slower progress in Britain. Here at Home, the conditions are not particularly favourable to mainline electrification, and as we enjoy abundant coal deposits, the steam-driven “Iron Horse” is not likely to give place to the electric locomotive to any considerable degree for many years to come. Actually, at the end of last year, Britain had 667 route miles of electrified railway. In general, the electrification so far undertaken has been largely of a suburban character, where frequent service with heavy peak load periods is called for. The Southern Railway operates the largest of our electrified systems, this covering almost the whole of the lines lying between London and the south coast.