§ MR. JOHN BURNS (Battersea)To ask the Secretary to the Board of Trade, whether his attention has been directed to applications under the Cheap Trains Act, made by the London County Council to the Board on the 15th August, 1903, and the 28th January, 1904, with regard to the service of workmen's trains on the Whitechapel and Bow, and the London, Tilbury, and 1314 Southend Railways, and to the fact that an inquiry on these applications was held on the 5th and 21st November, 1904; whether the Board have yet received the report of their inspector who held the inquiry; when the Board's decision on the applications is likely to be made known; and whether, considering that the overcrowding complained of on the workmen's trains on these railways is undisputed, he will undertake that the Board's decision on the applications is not further delayed.
(Answered by Mr. Bonar Law.) The report of the officer by whom this inquiry was held has been received, and the Board have been in communication with the London, Tilbury, and Southend Railway Company thereon. Some improvement in the workmen's train service has already been effected, and the Board of Trade hope to be in a position to give their final decision in the matter very shortly.