§ MR. MCVEIGH (Donegal, E.)I beg to ask the Chief Secretary to the Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland whether his attention has been called to the inefficient working of and delay to the travelling public on the Burtonport Railway on the 19th and 21st instant; whether he is aware that whatever improvement has taken place in the working of the line is due to the Lough Swilly Company procuring at its own expense new engines to replace those supplied by the Board of Works; and whether, seeing that all the public bodies in the districts through which the line runs have passed Resolutions asking for something to be done, he will take steps to have an inquiry made by the Board of Trade as to the defects and safety of the line, and the inefficiency of its rolling stock.
MR. BRYCEI am informed that the delay on the 19th ultimo to the traffic on the Burtonport line arose through an accident to an engine on the Lough Swilly Company's own line near Londonderry, the effect of which was felt throughout the Burtonport system. The delays on the 21st ultimo were due partly to causes which arose on the Lough Swilly Company's own line and partly to the failure of the injectors of one of that company's engines at Owenarrow viaduct on the Burtonport line The reply to the second part of the Question is in the negative. The engines referred 1056 to are not, it is understood, now working on the Burtonport line, the traffic on which is being worked by the original engines. I see no sufficient reason in the circumstances which I have described for altering the view which I expressed in answer to the hon. Member's Question of Juno 25th last.†