ABSTRACT
The reduction of turnpike revenues noted was an inevitable concomitant of the introduction of a novel and effective instrument of transport as the railway; and there is no doubt that in some cases the financial embarrassment of the trusts was directly traceable to the railway. Before the opening of the great trunk lines, about 1838–1840, the coach fares on some roads were very high, while on others they were kept moderate by the influence of the competition of several coaches. People flocked to the steamboats and left the long coach roads wherever it was possible to do so conveniently. In addition to the effect on the revenues of the roads due to the abolition of statute labour and to the competition of steam navigation, it is certain that the railways directly attracted the traffic from the adjacent thoroughfares that were parallel with them.
