In accordance with these rules I take =for Passenger Traffic= first the present minimum railway fare now charged, that is, 1d. for short distances of one mile or under. If the flat rate were fixed at say 2d., or, indeed, any sum over 1d., passengers who now pay that sum would have to pay at least double the existing fare; this would, of course, render the whole scheme impracticable. On the other hand, under a flat rate of 1d. throughout the whole country the receipts would not be sufficient to produce the present revenue unless and until the number of passengers carried should increase by as much as six or seven times. That this is so is clear when it is remembered that the =present average railway fare for the whole of the United Kingdom= (allowing for season ticket holders), =is 6½d.= In other words, if all the passengers now travelling would pay 6½d. for every journey, both for short ones, as from Mansion House to Charing Cross, and long ones, as from London to Londonderry, then the same gross revenue from passengers would be obtained as now; or, on the other hand, if a flat rate of 1d. any distance were fixed, and the number of passenger journeys were increased by six-and-a-half times as a result of this great reduction, then, again, the same gross revenue would be obtained. The first of these alternatives is, of course, impracticable, and the second one is certainly not likely to be attained for some time to come, and even then account would have to be taken of the additional working expenses occasioned by so large an increase of traffic. It is on account of these difficulties that any system of uniform fares has hitherto been regarded as impracticable. The solution of this problem was suggested to me by the practice of the Post Office of charging 3d. for express delivery, and 6d. for a telegram. Here we have the third rule before referred to of charging according to speed of service. Applying this to railways, and again searching for the lowest fares now charged for fast Main line trains, it will be observed that these are the regular cheap excursion fares of 2s. 6d. from London to Brighton or Southend and back, which amounts to 1s. 3d. each way. It is true that these are exceptionally cheap fares. Return tickets only are issued at this price, available by certain trains only, but on the principle already laid down that the flat rate must not exceed the lowest, this forms the basis of the proposed uniform fare of 1s. for Main line trains. Although this uniform fare is so exceptionally low, it is still nearly double the present average fare, and it is precisely on the Main line trains that increase of traffic (now restricted by expense) is sure to take place. These facts (as will appear in the chapter, “Finance of the Scheme”) enable me to estimate the increase of passenger traffic required to make up the present gross revenue at only 15 per cent. of the present number of passengers carried.