§ Mr. WARDLEasked the President of the Board of Trade if his attention had been called to the completion of the working agreement between the Great Western and the London and South Western Railway Companies; whether he had obtained a copy of such agreement; if so, will he lay the same upon the Table 1030 of the House; and, if no such copy has been deposited with the Board of Trade, whether he will ask for such copy?
Mr. BUXTONA copy of an agreement which has recently been concluded between the two railway companies has been furnished to me through the courtesy of the companies. I may say, for the information of the hon. Member, that the agreement does not provide for the working by one company of any portion of the other company's undertaking. It relates mainly to the pooling of the receipts from competitive traffic, and a rearrangement of the train services at junctions wherever desirable in the interest of the travelling public and of the companies. The document is not one which the Board of Trade are entitled to require the companies to publish, and I am, therefore, not in a position to lay it on the Table.