§ Mr. MONDasked the President of the Board of Trade whether his attention has been drawn to an apparatus for the automatic coupling of railway trucks called the Boirault coupler; whether he is aware that the French Minister of Public Works stated at a sitting of the Chamber of Deputies on 29th May, 1909, that it had given very favourable results after extended trials, and that this coupler has also been successfully tried in September, 1909, by the Swiss Federal Department of Posts and Railways and the general managers of the Swiss Federal Railways; and whether he will take steps to have the suitability of this coupler investigated with a view to its adoption on English railways.
§ Mr. CHURCHILLThe apparatus came under the notice of the Board of Trade some time ago, but I am not aware of the recent developments in regard to it to which my hon. Friend refers. The whole question of automatic couplings is discussed in a Memorandum prepared by Colonel Yorke, the Chief Inspecting Officer of Railways, of which I am forwarding my hon. Friend a copy.