§ MR. WEIRI beg to ask the Secretary to the Board of Trade if he will state the number of level crossings on the electrified portion of the Lancashire and Yorkshire and North Eastern Railways, and the nature of the steps taken to warn and protect the public from accidents through contact with the electrically charged rail.
§ THE SECRETARY TO THE BOARD OF TRADE (Mr. BONAR LAW,) Glasgow, BlackfriarsOn the electrically equipped portion of the Lancashire and Yorkshire 654 Railway there are nineteen public and thirty-three private level crossings, and on the similar portion of the North Eastern Railway the numbers are eighteen and twenty-nine. Both railway companies have informed me that the electric current is not carried over the crossings by means of a charged rail but by a cable connecting with the live rail on either side of the crossing, and the ends of the rail are protected with non-conducting material. The companies also state that Warning boards are fixed at the crossings.