The Disadvantage of Central Power Generation.
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The centralised system of the generation of power, either for subterranean or surface transit systems, possesses; undeniable drawbacks, though the advantage of low energy costs may be present, and, now that the various electrictraction schemes of the Metropolis are all but completed, we are able increasingly to become acquainted with the extent to which the public is likely to be inconvenienced ow:11g to the policy of placing all the eggs in one basket, by the concentration of the means of power generation at one or two huge central stations. During the past few weeks, on two separate occasions, large sections of the electric-traction
systems of London have been heought to a complete standstill for a period, which on Saturday last extended over two hours. On a previous Saturday, all the L.C.C. electric tramcarswere " hung up," over a distance of nearly 120 miles of track, for twenty minutes, owing to a breakdown in the generating station at Greenwich. On Saturday, the 3rd instant, it was the main cable in the Chelsea power house which fused, and, as an immediate result, four of London's underground railways, and a portion of the London .United Tramways Company's lines, suddenly became inoperative : all the illumination throughout the tubes failed ; the electric lifts remained suspended in the shafts; even the electric, synchronised, self-winding clocks stopped; and one hundred and sixty trains came to rest, while 30,000 passengers were temporarily stranded on the various systems. A single failure was the cause of all this upheaval of routine— all the eggs were in one basket.
It is almost unnecessary to point the moral, but the occurrence should give pause to those who are contemplating the exploitation of schemes for new tubes from Victoria to the Crystal Palace, or Victoria to Cricklewood, or for an extension of the electrified District Railway from Wimbledon to the Sutton district. The motorbus, as an independent unit, presents a more practicable proposition, and the public will realise this more and more as time goes on.