§ MR. ELLISTo ask the President of the Board of Trade whether any committee has been appointed by him to consider and report upon the matter of automatic couplings of railway waggons, of whom it is composed, has such committee carried out any experiments, has it reported; and, if so, what is the nature of such report, and, if not, how soon is it likely to report.
(Answered by Mr. Kearley.) The Railway Safety Appliances Committee (consisting of Colonel Yorke, the hon. Member for Derby, and Mr. Turnbull) have considered, among other matters, the question of automatic couplings. They reported, after very full consideration, that it appeared to be impracticable to fit 650 such appliances to existing waggon stock, and that consequently any extensive tests of automatic couplers under present conditions would be of no value.