§ MR. BELL (Derby)To ask the President of the Board of Trade whether his attention has been called to a fatal accident on 12th February at Castleton, Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway, to a goods guard, Fred Wilkinson; if he is aware that at the time of the accident he had been on duty nearly fifteen hours; and whether he will, at an early date, call for a return of the hours worked by engine-drivers, firemen, goods guards, and brakesmen of goods mineral trains on all railways for the month of January, with a view to putting a stop to the 1013 present excessive hours of duty worked by these classes of railway employees.
§ (Answered by MR. Kearley.) A Return of this accident has been received from the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway Company, in which it is stated that the unfortunate man killed had been on duty for fourteen and three-quarter hours at the time of the mishap. An inquiry into the circumstances attending the accident will be held, and the question of the hours worked will be investigated. As my hon. friend was informed on Friday last,†it is proposed to call for a general Return of the hours of certain classes of railway servants, including those specified by him, for an early month.