§ MR. WEIRTo ask the President of the Board of Trade whether the London, Brighton, and South Coast Railway Company have yet made arrangements for the lighting of the carriages of trains running between Pulborough and Victoria, when passing through tunnels.
(Answered by Mr. Kearley.) The Board of Trade have been in communication with the railway company in this matter, and are informed that carriages fitted with electric light are kept lighted when passing through tunnels. All new stock is so fitted, and existing stock is being fitted gradually as the carriages can be brought to the works. Whore gas lamps are for the time still in use, the company state that there is a difficulty in finding a means of turning the gas on and off in the course of the journey, and that to keep the gas continually burning would involve an additional expenditure of £8,000 to £10,000 a year. The company add that they are endeavouring to find means of overcoming this difficulty, but have not yet succeeded in doing so.