§ SIR LEWIS MCIVER (Edinburgh, W.)To ask the Secretary of State for India whether the proposal to transfer portions of the property of the Madras Railway to 1053 another company or line, which was recently intimated to the Madras Railway Company, has been finally and irrevocably decided on, or whether facilities will be given to the proprietors of the Madras Railway Company and the people of Madras to make representations to the Government before the matter is finally decided on.
(Answered by Mr. Secretary Morley.) The transfer of the Madras Railway from the present company has been finally decided on, with a view to a rearrangement of the railways in Southern India, which was considered by the Government of India and the Railway Board to be imperative on administrative grounds. Subject to the settlement of satisfactory conditions, the Southern Mahratta, South Indian, and Great Indian Peninsula Railway Companies have provsionally accepted the offers which have been made to them to include in their systems portion of the present Madras Railway.