§ 10. Mr. ATKEYasked the President of the Board of Trade whether the inspecting officer has yet visited the Midland Railway station at Nottingham; if not, when he will do so; and whether, if this visit cannot take place within the next seven days and in view of the great inconvenience being suffered by the travelling 6 public, will the report of a Member of this House who is in no way connected with Nottingham be accepted by the Board of Trade as satisfactory evidence of the state of affairs existing and of the necessity for immediate action being taken?
§ Sir A. GEDDESThe answer to the first part of the question is in the negative. The chief inspecting officer of railways will visit the station as soon as his more important duties permit. I have seen no evidence of widespread inconvenience arising from the closing of the entrance referred to, and do not propose to adopt the suggestion in the last part of the question.
§ Mr. ATKEYIs the right hon. Gentleman aware that some thousands of business men and girls who have used this entrance, which is now closed, when travelling to and from their business at dinnertime, lose from five minutes to a quarter-of-an-hour through not being able to use this entrance?
§ Sir A. GEDDESI am not in a position to agree or disagree with the hon. Member's figure, but the other entrance to the station is open.
§ Sir A. GEDDESYes. I have been giving this matter consideration for some time, as my hon. Friend knows, and am sending my inspector down to see the exact positon on the spot, but any information which the hon. Member gives me will be considered.
§ Mr. ATKEYWill the right hon. Gentleman give me the approximate date when an inspector is likely to go down to Nottingham? I will put the question down in a week's time.