§ MR. ERNEST SPENCER (West Bromwich)I beg to ask the President of the Board of Trade whether, in view of the attempted outrages upon women whilst travelling by railway, he will take steps to compel Railway Companies to provide all classes of trains with compartments exclusively for the use of women, and also a method of communi- 1245 cation with the guard in all local and stopping trains as well as expresses?
§ * SIR M. HICKS BEACHI do not think I can usefully add anything to the reply I gave to a question put to me on this subject on the 4th of last month by the hon. Member for West Waterford. I then stated that I was not aware of any general deficiency in the accommodation for women travelling alone, and that none such was disclosed in the correspondence presented to Parliament in 1888. It often happens that women prefer not to travel in the carriages specially reserved for them. Efficient means of communication are now required by Statute to be provided in the case of all passenger trains which travel more than 20 miles without stopping, and, as at present advised, I am not prepared to propose an extension of the law.