§ MR. ROBERTSONsaid, he would beg to ask the President of the Board of Control, what steps are taking to complete the Railway Communication between Madras and Bangalore? He would remind the right hon. Gentleman that Bangalore was one of the principal military stations in Southern India.
MR. VERNON SMITHsaid, he believed that no steps had been taken for constructing this line. The rule laid down by the Directors of the East India Company was, that the trunk lines should be completed before they consented to the formation of branch lines, and the trunk line to Madras was not yet completed. It was true that Bangalore was one of the principal military stations of the Madras Presidency, and a proposal having been made to construct a railway from Bangalore to Madras, with a promise that it should not interfere with the progress of the trunk line, the Directors now had the proposal under their consideration.