§ MR. JOHN ELLIS (Nottingham, Rushcliffe)I beg to ask the President of the Board of Trade whether he has called the attention of the North-Eastern Railway Company to the suggestions in the Report of Major Marindin upon the railway accident near Thirsk on 2nd November 1892, in which he points out the danger of the practice, in force on the North-Eastern and some other railways, of allowing signalmen to offer the "Be ready" signal before they have received the "Out of section" or "Line clear" signal from the cabin in advance, and also expresses his opinion that the 33 attention of the North-Eastern Railway Company should be directed to the question of relief signalmen; and what reply has been given by the Railway Company on the subject?
§ THE PRESIDENT OF THE BOARD OF TRADE (Mr. MUNDELLA,) Sheffield, BrightsideYes, Sir; I did call the attention of the North-Eastern Railway Company to the points referred to by the hon. Member. With reference to the suggestion that a signalman should not be allowed to offer the "Be ready" signal for a second train until he has received from the cabin in advance the "Out of section" or "Line clear" signal for the preceding train, the Company state that no change can properly be made without conference amongst the various large companies whose regulations are identical. The question as to whether any alteration in the existing regulations should be made is to be considered at a special meeting of the Superintendents of the various Railway Companies to be held early in March. With regard to the question of relief signalmen, I am informed that the company have at present a staff of 52 spare relief signalmen, and the directors have recently sanctioned the appointment of 18 additional men for spare relief duty.