§ 74. Mr. Skeffingtonasked the Minister of Transport whether his attention has been drawn to an accident in Lewisham on 4th February, in which a tram left the rails and ran over the pavement, as a result of which five passengers were injured; and whether he can state the cause of this accident.
§ Mr. BarnesI am informed that this accident occurred at 2.57 a.m. A tram proceeding at 15 m.p.h. towards Lewisham ran over a large bolt which had fallen into the groove of the running rail and was derailed. The vehicle mounted the nearside pavement and collided with the boundary wall of a church garden.
§ Mr. SkeffingtonIs my right hon. Friend aware that many of these accidents are due to the defective condition of tramway tracks; that recently a motor cyclist was killed on the Old Kent Road, and that the police evidence at the inquest was that there was a depression of several inches below the rail, and would the Minister take all steps to see that tramway tracks are maintained in a safer condition?
§ Mr. BarnesI am well aware of the condition of the tramway lines. A decision has been made to replace them with buses, but hon. Members are aware of the difficulty of getting buses. In this case, however, the accident was not due to a faulty or defective tramway.