§ MR. J. E. ELLISI beg to ask the President of the Board of Trade whether he is aware that the railway companies usually make, on the 1st July and at other periods of the year, great and widespread changes in the running of their passenger trains; that on the 1st July last it was not possible to obtain in many cases any official notification of these changes on the part of the railway companies; and that, in some cases, the time tables were not obtainable before Monday 3rd and Tuesday 4th July; and whether he will represent to the railway companies the great public inconvenience caused by this belated publication of their time tables, and urge upon them the necessity of reasonably early official notification of changes in their passenger services.
§ MR. RITCHIEI am not myself aware of the circumstances referred to in the Question of the hon. Gentleman, but if they are correctly described they must lead to a large amount of inconvenience. I shall be glad to communicate with the railway companies on the subject, and will inform the hon. Gentleman of the result.