The growth which took place in suburban traffic before and after the end of the century ought to have brought increased prosperity to the railway companies, but it did not always do so. Competition between the various companies led to a reduction in fares; Parliament, by establishing workmen's fares, forced the companies to carry an ever-increasing number of passengers at a loss, or at least without profit; wages tended to increase and hours of working to decrease--both affecting the cost of operation; rates and taxes became heavier and heavier with the growth of municipal expenditure; and a higher standard of comfort and efficiency was demanded by the public. In some instances the situation was aggravated by the competition of electric tramways along routes parallel to the railways. This competition was limited to point-to-point traffic, its maximum range being about three miles; but it was a grievance against which the railway companies protested very loudly, especially when the tramways were owned by local authorities to which the railways paid large sums in rates. The general effect of all these factors was to reduce the margin of profit on which the railways were working. We have seen, in the case of tramways, how easy it is for a slight change in a frequently-recurring expense to have a serious effect in the aggregate. Railways are in much the same position; and the various influences at work upon the suburban traffic brought them face to face with the importance, if not the necessity, of finding some means of dealing with larger volumes of traffic on a basis more economical than that provided by steam locomotives. This means they found in electric traction; but it may be noted that even railway engineers took some time to realise exactly what electric traction offered them. They were looking for something to reduce their annual expenses; and when they made calculations about electric traction they found that, when the expense of providing the electrical equipment was taken into account, the total cost of hauling the trains electrically on the existing schedule might be greater instead of less than the cost of steam haulage. They were therefore inclined to look upon the economic benefits of electric traction as an illusion.