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Time is Money: A Re-Assessment of the Passenger Social Savings from Victorian British Railways

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  08 September 2006

TIMOTHY LEUNIG
TIMOTHY LEUNIG
Affiliation:
Lecturer in Economic History, Department of Economic History, London School of Economics, Houghton Street, London WC2A 2AE, United Kingdom. E-mail: [email protected].
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Abstract

This article assesses train speeds in England and Wales 1843–1912. Trains were fast compared with coaches or walking, and the social saving of time saved grew over time to become over 10 percent of national income in 1912. Including fare savings as well, social savings were 14 percent of national income in 1912, with consumer surplus of 6 percent. Time savings dominated fare savings once railways became a new good: travel for the masses. Using the social savings-total factor productivity identity, we show that railways accounted for around a sixth of economy-wide productivity growth in this era.

Type
ARTICLES
Information
The Journal of Economic History , Volume 66 , Issue 3 , September 2006 , pp. 635 - 673
Copyright
© 2006 The Economic History Association

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References

Primary Sources

The Railway Returns data were taken from the following issue of Parliamentary Papers, some of which give data for more than one year.
1850 52, 1851 51, 1852 48, 1854 62, 1854–5 48, 1856 54, 1857 38, 1859 25, 1859 sess 2 27, 1860 61, 1862 53, 1863 57, 1864 53, 1865 49, 1866 63, 1867 62, 1867–8 62, 1868–9 54, 1870 59, 1873 57, 1876 65, 1883 60, 1884 69, 1885 68, 1886 58, 1887 72, 1888 89, 1889 68, 1890 65, 1891 75, 1892 70, 1893–4 79, 1894 75, 1895 86, 1896 74, 1897 77, 1898 81, 1899 85, 1909 76, 1910 79, 1911 70, 1912–3 75, 1913 58.
1837, vol. 20, report from the Select Committee on Internal communication taxation
1840, vol. 13, Reports from Committees: Railways
1867, vol. 38, part 1, p. 53, Report from Commissioners: Railways
Issue 5,198, 29 August 1801; Issue 5,202, 3 September 1801; Issue 5,400, 26 April 1802; Issue 7,246, 1 January 1808; Issue 9,008, 6 September 1813; Issue 8,343, 17 October 1814; Issue 9,450, 21 February 1815; Issue 11,152, 24 January 1821; Issue 11,217, 11 April 1821; Issue 11,570, 29 May, 1822; Issue 11,598, 01 July 1822; Issue 11,822, 18 March 1823; and Issue 11,873, 16 May 1823.
Acworth W. M., and W. T. Stephenson. 1924. The Elements of Railway Economics. New ed. Oxford: Clarendon Press
Arnold A. J., and S. McCartney. (2005): “Rates of Return, Concentration Levels and Strategic Change in the British Railway Industry, 1830–1912.” Journal of Transport History 26, no. 1 41– 60.Google Scholar
Bagwell Philip S. 1974. The Transport Revolution from 1770. London: Batsford
Baker William J. (1971): “Railways and Economic Growth in England and Wales, 1840–1870.” This Journal 31, no. 3 718– 19.Google Scholar
Bates Alan. 1969. Directory of Stage Coach Services 1836. Newton Abbot: David and Charles
Bogart Dan. (2005): “Turnpike Trusts and the Transportation Revolution in 18th Century England.” Explorations in Economic History 42, no. 4 479– 508.Google Scholar
Boyd J. Hayden, and Gary M. Walton. (1972): “The Social Savings from Nineteenth-Century Rail Passenger Services.” Explorations in Economic History 9, no. 3 233– 54.Google Scholar
Bradshaw. “Bradshaw's Railway Guides for Great Britain and Ireland.”
Cain P. J. 1988. “Railways 1870–1914: The Maturity of the Private System.” In Transport in Victorian Britain, edited by Michael J. Freeman and Derek H. Aldcroft, 92– 133. Manchester: Manchester University Press
Copeland John. 1968. Roads and Their Traffic 1750–1850, [Reprints of Economic Classics]. Newton Abbot: David & Charles
Crafts N. F. R. (2005): “Regional GDP in Britain, 1871–1911.” Scottish Journal of Political Economy 52 54– 64.Google Scholar
Crafts N. F. R.. (2004): “Steam as a General Purpose Technology: A Growth Accounting Perspective.” Economic Journal 114, no. 495 338– 51.Google Scholar
Crafts N. F. R., and A. Mulatu. (2005): “What Explains the Location of Industry in Britain, 1871–1931?” Journal of Economic Geography 5 499– 518.Google Scholar
David Paul A. 1991. “Computer and Dynamo: The Modern Productivity Paradox in a Not-Too-Distant Mirror.” In Technology and Productivity: The Challenge for Economic Policy, edited by OECD, 315– 48. Paris: OECD
Department for Transport. “Values of Time and Operating Costs.” In Transport Analysis Guidance (TAG), 1–16 London: Department for Transport, 2004.
Feinstein Charles H. 1995. “Changes in Nominal Wages, the Cost of Living and Real Wages in the United Kingdom over Two Centuries, 1780–1990.” In Labour's Reward: Real Wages and Economic Change in 19th- and 20th-Century Europe, edited by Peter Scholliers and Vera Negri Zamagni, 3– 36. Aldershot, Hants., England; Brookfield, VT: E. Elgar
Feinstein Charles H.. (1990): “New Estimates of Average Earnings in the United Kingdom, 1880–1913.” Economic History Review 43, no. 4 595– 632.Google Scholar
Feinstein Charles H.. (1998): “Pessimism Perpetuated: Real Wages and the Standard of Living in Britain During and after the Industrial Revolution.” This Journal 58, no. 3 625– 58.Google Scholar
Fishlow Albert. 1965. American Railroads and the Transformation of the Ante-Bellum Economy, Harvard Economic Studies; Vol. 127. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press
Fishlow Albert. (1972): “Railways and Economic Growth in England and Wales, 1840–1870.” Journal of Economic Literature 10, no. 1 75– 76.Google Scholar
Fogel Robert William. (1979): “Notes on the Social Saving Controversy.” This Journal 39, no. 1 1– 54.Google Scholar
Fogel Robert William. 1964. Railroads and American Economic Growth: Essays in Econometric History. Baltimore and London: The Johns Hopkins Press
Foreman-Peck James. 1990. New Perspectives on the Late Victorian Economy : Essays in Quantitative Economic History 1860–1914. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
Foxwell Ernest, and Thomas Cecil Farrer. 1889. Express Trains: English and Foreign: Being a Statistical Account of All the Express Trains of the World. London: s.n.
Gourvish Terry. 1980. Railways and the British Economy 1830–1914, Economic History Society Studies in Economic and Social History. London: Macmillan
Great Britain, 1999. Standing Advisory Committee on Trunk Road Assessment. Transport and the Economy. London: The Stationery Office
Harrison A. J., and D. A. Quarmby. 1972. “The Value of Time.” In Cost-Benefit Analysis: Selected Readings, edited by Richard Layard, 173– 208. Harmondsworth: Penguin
Hawke G. R. 1971. “Railway Passenger Traffic in 1865.” In Essays on a Mature Economy: Britain after 1840, edited by Donald N. McCloskey, 367– 88. London: Methuen,
Hawke G. R. 1970. Railways and Economic Growth in England and Wales, 1840–1870. Oxford: Oxford University Press,
Hunt E. H. (1971): “Review: Railways and Economic Growth in England and Wales, 1840–70.” Economica 38, no. 152 447– 49.Google Scholar
Kellett John Reginald. 1979. Railways and Victorian Cities, Studies in Social History. London: Routledge and Kegan Paul
Lardner Dionysius. 1855. Railway Economy; A Treatise on the New Art of Transport, Its Management, Prospects, and Relations, Commercial, Financial and Social, with an Exposition of the Practical Results of the Railways in Operation in the United Kingdom, on the Continent, and in America. New York: Harter and Brothers
Nordhaus William D. (2004): “Schumpeterian Profits in the American Economy: Theory and Measurement.” NBER Working Paper 10,433 1– 35.Google Scholar
Paish George. 1902. The British Railway Position. London: The Statist
Routh Guy. 1980. Occupation and Pay in Great Britain 1906–79. 2nd ed. London: Macmillan,
Simmons Jack. 1991. The Victorian Railway. New York: Thames and Hudson
Summerhill William R. “Big Social Savings in a Small Laggard Economy: Railroad-Led Growth in Brazil.” This Journal (2005): 65, no. 1 72– 102.Google Scholar
Thomas Mark. 2004. “The Service Sector.” In The Cambridge Economic History of Modern Britain : Economic Maturity, 1860–1939, edited by Roderick Floud and Paul Johnson, 99– 132. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
Ville Simon. 2004. “Transport.” In The Cambridge Economic History of Modern Britain : Industrialisation, 1700–1860, edited by Roderick Floud and Paul Johnson, 295– 331. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
Wardman M. (2001). “Public Transport Values of Time.” University of Leeds Institute for Transport Studies Working Paper, no. 564.
Weyl Walter E. 1901. The Passenger Traffic of Railways, Publications of the University of Pennsylvania. Series in Political Economy and Public Law; No. 19. Philadelphia: Pub. for the University,

Primary Sources

The Railway Returns data were taken from the following issue of Parliamentary Papers, some of which give data for more than one year.
1850 52, 1851 51, 1852 48, 1854 62, 1854–5 48, 1856 54, 1857 38, 1859 25, 1859 sess 2 27, 1860 61, 1862 53, 1863 57, 1864 53, 1865 49, 1866 63, 1867 62, 1867–8 62, 1868–9 54, 1870 59, 1873 57, 1876 65, 1883 60, 1884 69, 1885 68, 1886 58, 1887 72, 1888 89, 1889 68, 1890 65, 1891 75, 1892 70, 1893–4 79, 1894 75, 1895 86, 1896 74, 1897 77, 1898 81, 1899 85, 1909 76, 1910 79, 1911 70, 1912–3 75, 1913 58.
1837, vol. 20, report from the Select Committee on Internal communication taxation
1840, vol. 13, Reports from Committees: Railways
1867, vol. 38, part 1, p. 53, Report from Commissioners: Railways
Issue 5,198, 29 August 1801; Issue 5,202, 3 September 1801; Issue 5,400, 26 April 1802; Issue 7,246, 1 January 1808; Issue 9,008, 6 September 1813; Issue 8,343, 17 October 1814; Issue 9,450, 21 February 1815; Issue 11,152, 24 January 1821; Issue 11,217, 11 April 1821; Issue 11,570, 29 May, 1822; Issue 11,598, 01 July 1822; Issue 11,822, 18 March 1823; and Issue 11,873, 16 May 1823.

Primary Sources

The Railway Returns data were taken from the following issue of Parliamentary Papers, some of which give data for more than one year.
1850 52, 1851 51, 1852 48, 1854 62, 1854–5 48, 1856 54, 1857 38, 1859 25, 1859 sess 2 27, 1860 61, 1862 53, 1863 57, 1864 53, 1865 49, 1866 63, 1867 62, 1867–8 62, 1868–9 54, 1870 59, 1873 57, 1876 65, 1883 60, 1884 69, 1885 68, 1886 58, 1887 72, 1888 89, 1889 68, 1890 65, 1891 75, 1892 70, 1893–4 79, 1894 75, 1895 86, 1896 74, 1897 77, 1898 81, 1899 85, 1909 76, 1910 79, 1911 70, 1912–3 75, 1913 58.

Other Parliamentary Papers

1837, vol. 20, report from the Select Committee on Internal communication taxation
1840, vol. 13, Reports from Committees: Railways
1867, vol. 38, part 1, p. 53, Report from Commissioners: Railways

The Times

Issue 5,198, 29 August 1801; Issue 5,202, 3 September 1801; Issue 5,400, 26 April 1802; Issue 7,246, 1 January 1808; Issue 9,008, 6 September 1813; Issue 8,343, 17 October 1814; Issue 9,450, 21 February 1815; Issue 11,152, 24 January 1821; Issue 11,217, 11 April 1821; Issue 11,570, 29 May, 1822; Issue 11,598, 01 July 1822; Issue 11,822, 18 March 1823; and Issue 11,873, 16 May 1823.

Secondary Sources

Acworth W. M., and W. T. Stephenson. 1924. The Elements of Railway Economics. New ed. Oxford: Clarendon Press
Arnold A. J., and S. McCartney. (2005): “Rates of Return, Concentration Levels and Strategic Change in the British Railway Industry, 1830–1912.” Journal of Transport History 26, no. 1 41– 60.Google Scholar
Bagwell Philip S. 1974. The Transport Revolution from 1770. London: Batsford
Baker William J. (1971): “Railways and Economic Growth in England and Wales, 1840–1870.” This Journal 31, no. 3 718– 19.Google Scholar
Bates Alan. 1969. Directory of Stage Coach Services 1836. Newton Abbot: David and Charles
Bogart Dan. (2005): “Turnpike Trusts and the Transportation Revolution in 18th Century England.” Explorations in Economic History 42, no. 4 479– 508.Google Scholar
Boyd J. Hayden, and Gary M. Walton. (1972): “The Social Savings from Nineteenth-Century Rail Passenger Services.” Explorations in Economic History 9, no. 3 233– 54.Google Scholar
Bradshaw. “Bradshaw's Railway Guides for Great Britain and Ireland.”
Cain P. J. 1988. “Railways 1870–1914: The Maturity of the Private System.” In Transport in Victorian Britain, edited by Michael J. Freeman and Derek H. Aldcroft, 92– 133. Manchester: Manchester University Press
Copeland John. 1968. Roads and Their Traffic 1750–1850, [Reprints of Economic Classics]. Newton Abbot: David & Charles
Crafts N. F. R. (2005): “Regional GDP in Britain, 1871–1911.” Scottish Journal of Political Economy 52 54– 64.Google Scholar
Crafts N. F. R.. (2004): “Steam as a General Purpose Technology: A Growth Accounting Perspective.” Economic Journal 114, no. 495 338– 51.Google Scholar
Crafts N. F. R., and A. Mulatu. (2005): “What Explains the Location of Industry in Britain, 1871–1931?” Journal of Economic Geography 5 499– 518.Google Scholar
David Paul A. 1991. “Computer and Dynamo: The Modern Productivity Paradox in a Not-Too-Distant Mirror.” In Technology and Productivity: The Challenge for Economic Policy, edited by OECD, 315– 48. Paris: OECD
Department for Transport. “Values of Time and Operating Costs.” In Transport Analysis Guidance (TAG), 1–16 London: Department for Transport, 2004.
Feinstein Charles H. 1995. “Changes in Nominal Wages, the Cost of Living and Real Wages in the United Kingdom over Two Centuries, 1780–1990.” In Labour's Reward: Real Wages and Economic Change in 19th- and 20th-Century Europe, edited by Peter Scholliers and Vera Negri Zamagni, 3– 36. Aldershot, Hants., England; Brookfield, VT: E. Elgar
Feinstein Charles H.. (1990): “New Estimates of Average Earnings in the United Kingdom, 1880–1913.” Economic History Review 43, no. 4 595– 632.Google Scholar
Feinstein Charles H.. (1998): “Pessimism Perpetuated: Real Wages and the Standard of Living in Britain During and after the Industrial Revolution.” This Journal 58, no. 3 625– 58.Google Scholar
Fishlow Albert. 1965. American Railroads and the Transformation of the Ante-Bellum Economy, Harvard Economic Studies; Vol. 127. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press
Fishlow Albert. (1972): “Railways and Economic Growth in England and Wales, 1840–1870.” Journal of Economic Literature 10, no. 1 75– 76.Google Scholar
Fogel Robert William. (1979): “Notes on the Social Saving Controversy.” This Journal 39, no. 1 1– 54.Google Scholar
Fogel Robert William. 1964. Railroads and American Economic Growth: Essays in Econometric History. Baltimore and London: The Johns Hopkins Press
Foreman-Peck James. 1990. New Perspectives on the Late Victorian Economy : Essays in Quantitative Economic History 1860–1914. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
Foxwell Ernest, and Thomas Cecil Farrer. 1889. Express Trains: English and Foreign: Being a Statistical Account of All the Express Trains of the World. London: s.n.
Gourvish Terry. 1980. Railways and the British Economy 1830–1914, Economic History Society Studies in Economic and Social History. London: Macmillan
Great Britain, 1999. Standing Advisory Committee on Trunk Road Assessment. Transport and the Economy. London: The Stationery Office
Harrison A. J., and D. A. Quarmby. 1972. “The Value of Time.” In Cost-Benefit Analysis: Selected Readings, edited by Richard Layard, 173– 208. Harmondsworth: Penguin
Hawke G. R. 1971. “Railway Passenger Traffic in 1865.” In Essays on a Mature Economy: Britain after 1840, edited by Donald N. McCloskey, 367– 88. London: Methuen,
Hawke G. R. 1970. Railways and Economic Growth in England and Wales, 1840–1870. Oxford: Oxford University Press,
Hunt E. H. (1971): “Review: Railways and Economic Growth in England and Wales, 1840–70.” Economica 38, no. 152 447– 49.Google Scholar
Kellett John Reginald. 1979. Railways and Victorian Cities, Studies in Social History. London: Routledge and Kegan Paul
Lardner Dionysius. 1855. Railway Economy; A Treatise on the New Art of Transport, Its Management, Prospects, and Relations, Commercial, Financial and Social, with an Exposition of the Practical Results of the Railways in Operation in the United Kingdom, on the Continent, and in America. New York: Harter and Brothers
Nordhaus William D. (2004): “Schumpeterian Profits in the American Economy: Theory and Measurement.” NBER Working Paper 10,433 1– 35.Google Scholar
Paish George. 1902. The British Railway Position. London: The Statist
Routh Guy. 1980. Occupation and Pay in Great Britain 1906–79. 2nd ed. London: Macmillan,
Simmons Jack. 1991. The Victorian Railway. New York: Thames and Hudson
Summerhill William R. “Big Social Savings in a Small Laggard Economy: Railroad-Led Growth in Brazil.” This Journal (2005): 65, no. 1 72– 102.Google Scholar
Thomas Mark. 2004. “The Service Sector.” In The Cambridge Economic History of Modern Britain : Economic Maturity, 1860–1939, edited by Roderick Floud and Paul Johnson, 99– 132. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
Ville Simon. 2004. “Transport.” In The Cambridge Economic History of Modern Britain : Industrialisation, 1700–1860, edited by Roderick Floud and Paul Johnson, 295– 331. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
Wardman M. (2001). “Public Transport Values of Time.” University of Leeds Institute for Transport Studies Working Paper, no. 564.
Weyl Walter E. 1901. The Passenger Traffic of Railways, Publications of the University of Pennsylvania. Series in Political Economy and Public Law; No. 19. Philadelphia: Pub. for the University,