§ MR. WOODS (Walthamstow)I beg to ask the President of the Board of Trade whether he received a memorial on the 15th day of June, 1896, under the provisions of the Cheap Trains Act, 1883, signed by 1,000 working men, chiefly engaged in the Post Office and the London markets, praying for an early service of workmen's trains on the London, Brighton, and South Coast Railway between Croydon and London Bridge and Victoria Stations; and whether the Board of Trade will exercise the powers conferred upon them by the Cheap Trains Act of 1883 to compel the railway company in question to provide the necessary service of workmen's trains?
§ THE PRESIDENT OF THE BOARD OF TRADEThe Board of Trade received the memorial referred to; it was transmitted by a Mr. Farrell, and the Board communicated from time to time with that gentleman upon it. In the course of the negotiations the memorial for a workmen's train was withdrawn, and a request for an ordinary train to arrive at London Bridge before 5 a.m. was substituted. The request was submitted to the company, who regretted that they were unable to comply with it, because 1174 it would involve the very serious additional expense of having to keep the station and intermediate stations open all night, and necessitate the employment of additional hands. I am always ready to use the powers of the Cheap Trains Act, and if the Board of Trade are supplied with evidence that the prayer of the memorial for a workmen's train is revived, and that the memorialists would be represented at an inquiry, I shall be glad to adopt that procedure in order that the Department may come to a fair conclusion on the merits of the case.
§ MR. WOODSI beg to ask the President of the Board of Trade whether his attention has been called to the fact that there are no workmen's trains running between Bromley (Kent) and London; Bromley is only 10¾ miles from London, and the cheapest fare for workmen is 11s. per week; and whether he will communicate with the London, Chatham, and Dover and the South Eastern Railway Companies with a view to workmen's trains being run between Bromley and London?
§ THE PRESIDENT OF THE BOARD OF TRADEI shall be happy to communicate with these Railway Companies, but before I do so the Board of Trade should be supplied with information indicating the times at which the workmen desire the trains to leave Bromley, and the number of men who are likely to avail themselves of the service.