§ 44. Sir ARTHUR FELLasked the President of the Board of Trade if his attention has been called to the difficulty families have in going to the seaside by railway under present conditions; if he will consider the feasibility of allowing tickets to be taken some days beforehand for a journey by a particular train, and that seats should then be reserved for these tickets, and that other tickets should then only be sold to the casual public for such room as may remain available, and, if this could not be managed, by the use of coloured tickets issued beforehand for the reserved seats?
Sir A. STANLEYI am quite aware of the difficulties that are being experienced, and I am particularly anxious that the restrictions in the railway passenger service, which are necessarily imposed, should inflict as little hardship as possible during the holiday season.
Some steps have been taken in particular districts in the direction indicated by the hon. Member, and it may be necessary to extend them; but the matter is one of great difficulty, and it would be of assistance if persons desirous of travelling to or from seaside resorts would, whenever possible, make their arrangements for travelling during the middle of the week, when there is less strain on the railways than at the week-end.
§ Sir C. KINLOCH-COOKEWould not this entail great hardship upon anyone who arrives at a station and finds there is no place in the carriages?
Sir A. STANLEYI quite agree that it does involve some difficulty. We have refrained from taking steps to deal with the further restriction of railway travel in the hope that, although the accommodation is very limited and people are greatly inconvenienced in travelling, nevertheless they would prefer that method of being able to take their holidays at some distance from their homes, rather than put them under any further travelling restrictions.