70. Mr. A. RICHARDSONasked the President of the Board of Trade whether 1616 he is aware that many business men in Nottingham have recently been informed by the Great Central Railway Company that the principle of inter-availability of railway season tickets now in operation does not apply between Nottingham and London, and cannot be applied between these two cities; and, whether, in view of the further fact that many public men in Nottingham engaged on National Service spend a great proportion of their time travelling between Nottingham and London and are thus hindered and harassed on account of the poor train service, he will give instructions that complete inter-availability shall apply to season-ticket holders using the railway between those two cities?
Mr. ROBERTSThe inter-availability of season tickets comes into operation only when the train service by the route in respect of which the tickets are issued has been so reduced as to cause serious inconvenience to the holders of the tickets. I understand that the Great Central Railway Company do not consider that the train services between Nottingham and London have been reduced to such an extent, but it has been represented to me that the fact that season tickets between Nottingham and London issued by other companies are not available on the Great Central Railway has caused really serious inconvenience, and I am in communication with the Railway Executive Committee in the matter.