§ SIR WILLIAM BULLI beg to ask the President of the Board of Trade whether, bearing in mind the number of accidents that arise on our railways from insufficiently fastened carriage doors, he will take steps to compel the various railway companies to attach an outside bar or fastener on every railway carriage, as is done on continental trains, an exception being made in the case of local traffic.
§ MR. LLOYD-GEORGEThe Board of Trade are advised by their technical officers that the provision of such an appliance as that referred to by the hon. Member would not be desirable, inasmuch as it would tend to prevent the free egress of passengers from the carriages of the train in cases of emergency. The Board have, however, from time to time been in communication with the railway companies in regard to the use of inside handles to the carriage doors, and they have recommended the abolition of such handles on all trains other than suburban trains. The matter is not one, however, in which the Board have any powers of compulsion. It is believed that the greater proportion of the accidents caused to passengers by falling from trains are probably duo not to the insufficient fastening of carriage doors, but to the doors being improperly opened by persons in the carriages.