§ *MR. HUDSONI beg to ask the President of the Board of Trade if he can give the number of cases and the nature of injuries to servants of the Great Northern Railway Company (Ireland) as a result of the use of the apparatus placed on locomotives to catch the train staff for single line working when running at high speed through stations.
§ MR. KEARLEYOnly one case of injury from the use of the apparatus in question has been reported to the Board of Trade, the man injured sustaining a fracture of the skull. This is the case referred to in the next Question by the hon. Member.
§ *MR. HUDSONI beg to ask the President of the Board of Trade whether the Great Northern Railway Company (Ireland) have the authority of the Board of Trade to continue the use of their invention placed on locomotives to catch the staff for the single line working of their railway at several stations between Portadown and Londonderry, after the defects revealed by the inquiry into the accident to an engine driver, caused by this apparatus, at Trew and Moy, in view of the rules laid down for working single lines of railway, which stipulate that the engine-driver must see and have in his possession the proper train staff for the section before he enters such section of the line.
§ MR. KEARLEYThe Board's Inspecting Officers of Railways have always advocated the employment of an apparatus for the purpose of exchanging staffs or tablets as being, generally speaking, safer than the usual practice of exchanging from hand to hand. The officer who inquired on behalf of the Board of Trade into the accident at Trew and Moy reported that alterations were being made in the experimental apparatus which should effectually prevent the occurrence of a similar mishap in future.
§ *MR. HUDSONasked if the Board of Trade were aware that these trains passed through stations at a speed of fifty miles an hour in some cases.
§ MR. KEARLEYI will inquire.