28. Mr. LESTRANGE MALONEasked the Minister of Transport, if his Department is aware of the progress made in Germany in the development of telephone communication between railway trains and the telephone service; and whether any experiments are being conducted in this country?
§ Sir W. MITCHELL-THOMSONI have been asked to reply to this question. I have asked for and received reports from time to time from the German authorities concerning an experimental 757 service which is in operation on certain trains running between Berlin and Hamburg for the provision of telephonic communication between passengers in trains and telephone subscribers. Similar experiments conducted in this country have demonstrated the practicability of establishing telephonic communication with moving trains but at present the demand for such communication does not seem likely to be sufficient to justify the expense involved to the railways in the provision of facilities.