§ 19. Colonel Sir HENRY NORRISasked the President of the Board of Trade if the recent increase in the fares of the underground tube railways have been instituted with his sanction; whether he is aware that in many cases these increases amount to 50 per cent. on the pre-war fares, and if he will say whether such increases are justified by the admitted rise in wages and shortening of the working hours?
§ Mr. BRIDGEMANThe maximum fares which may be charged by the tube railway companies are fixed by the companies special Acts of Parliament, as modified by the Railways (Passenger Fares) Order, 1916, and increases of fare within the prescribed maxima do not require the sanction of the Board of Trade. The tube companies are not under Government control, but have given concessions as regards wages and hours of the same kind as those given by the controlled companies.