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Sir William Halcrow observed that to Londoners the Author's brief summary of the evolution of London Transport made fascinating reading. The statistics of vehicles employed, the improvement in the average speed of travel, and the numbers of passengers carried made an imposing record. The problems affecting the future of the London Passenger Transport Board's activities were many, and in particular those affecting tube railways were probably the most, difficult owing to the high cost of construction. He did not, however, intend to discuss tube railways, but to consider the reference which the Author had made t,o London planners.Planning had become a popular word during the war, and there was a danger that the general public might build high hopes for the future which would not, materialize. Members of the architectural profession had been active in preparing schernes for replanning London, believing that they were specially qu:tlified for the task. He trusted, however, that something better would emerge than what had been seen in the layout and design of the buildings in the vicinity of the Millbank Estate carried out in recent years. The Council's view, as expressed in the Practical PIanning Exhibition, was that planning shall be the work of professional and business men working ill close co-operation.So~ne recent proposals by architect,s had attracted his attention. One W:LS that the terminal stations such as those in the north of London belonging to the London and North Eastern Railway ard the London Midland :md ScottiNh Railway should be grouped into one huge terminus. The rdTect of that, would be to concentrate a t one point the traffic now distributed over three or four stations, and in his opinion it would be a retrograde step.Assuming that a colossal terminus were h i l t and that an adventurous passenger were successful in reaching the booking office by cab, Sir Willialu c:oultl vismtlize the necessity for another cab t o traverse the distance I)rt,ween the hooking office and the departure platform.In his view rather than concentrate traffic a t one point, consideration should lw given to further decentralization.Waterloo station, for example, wils :rllrrost too large for the convenience of passengers.Architects appeared to have taken a strong dislike to the buildings of tile London railway-stations. Doubtless when they were h i l t they were t,he last word in architecture, but fashions changed. A way out of the difficulty would be to reconstruct the stations with modern fapades, but, he suggested that the time had come when serious consideration might be given t o the provision of electric haulage on all the main lines from a point, 011 t,he mlt,$kjrt,s of London. For example, Watford might be selected for

Conclusion.-In the above remarks a brief record has been given of progress which has been made in recent years, but numerous other activities covered by the railway engineer have not been dealt with, which must of necessity require up-to-date knowledge of developments in metallurgy, engineering chemistry, the production of all types of labour-saving plant, the improvement of workshop methods as applied to such crafts as welding or the cutting of metals by burning, and other branches of engineering work.P'rogress has now rendered practicable operations which in the past would not have been possible from the economic aspect, and which permit of improvement in the general standards of work.Higher speeds and considerably more intensified traffic have been att,ained, but there is room for much further progress. This is fully realized by the great bulk of those engaged in the engineering services of t,he railways, on whom so much largely depends.

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