MR. BUXTONasked the President of the Board of Trade, Whether the Act 7 and 8 Vic. c. 85, 1844, which imposes obligations on Railway Companies of running cheap Artizans' Trains (Clause 6), and relieves them from the payment of the Railway Passenger Tax for passengers carried by such trains (Clause 9) is still in force, or has ever been repealed or modified by subsequent legislation; and, whether any Railway Companies are now exempt from the obligations imposed by this Act either from the fact of their incorporation prior to the passing of the Act, or from the exercise of the discretionary powers of the Board of Trade, as provided under certain conditions by Clause 6 of the same Act?
§ MR. CHAMBERLAINSir, the Act referred to in the first part of the Question is not accurately described, because it only relieves the Railway Companies from the Railway Passenger Tax where the passengers are carried at a charge of less than 1d. a-mile. The Act is still in force, and has not been repealed or modified by any subsequent legislation. None of the Railway Companies are exempt from the obligations imposed by the Act.