HC Deb 12 November 1908 vol 196 cc544-5
MR. PIRIE (Aberdeen, N.)

I beg to ask the Postmaster-General if he would state the official time occupied by the longest of the mail services between the two capitals of London and Paris via Dover and Calais, and the quickest time occupied by the mail service between the same cities via Boulogne and Folkestone

MR. SYDNEY BUXTON

The longest time occupied in any of the mail services between London and Paris via Dover and Calais is 8 hours 45 minutes, and the shortest time occupied in any of the services by way of Folkestone and Boulogne is 6 hours 45 minutes.

MR. PIRIE

I beg to ask the Postmaster-General if his attention has been drawn to the shortest of all the routes between London and Paris, viz., via Hastings and Treport, a distance of 238 miles, as compared with 287 miles by the longest of all the routes, via Dover and Calais; and, in view of the increasing rapidity of modern mail steamers, would he consider, in conjunction with the French postal authorities, the possibility of securing an equally rapid and alternative service either via Newhaven and Dieppe with the existing service, or by the proposed service via Hastings and Tréport.

MR. SYDNEY BUXTON

There is no regular service of steamships between Hastings and Tréport suitable for the transmission of mails; nor, so far as I am aware, are the harbour accommodation and railway facilities on either side by that route adequate for a mail service. I am considering the possibility of sending more of the mails for France by the route of Newhaven and Dieppe.

MR. PIRIE

was understood to suggest that with electrification of the line to Tréport a considerable saving of time would be effected.

MR. SYDNEY BUXTON

I am looking into the whole matter, and if my hon. friend can bring any facts before me I will consider them.

MR. PIRIE

I beg to ask the Postmaster-General whether, with regard to the mail service between the two capitals of London and Paris, and in view of the fact that there are from London to Paris twenty mail services per week carried by the longer route, via Dover and Calais, as compared with twelve by the shorter route, via Boulogne and Folkestone, and that in the service from Paris to London the weekly differences were greater, being twenty-one by the longer as compared to seven by the shorter route, and as this arrangement is solely in the interests of the railway companies to the detriment of the mail service and of the travelling public, he will endeavour, in conjunction with the French postal authorities, to obtain rectification so that the mails for or passing through Paris may be more often carried by the shorter than by the longer route.

MR. SYDNEY BUXTON

I do not think it can be said that the arrangement to which the hon. Member refers is solely in the interests of the railway companies. The question of modifying the present service in the manner suggested is not by any means free from difficulties. The matter is being carefully considered.