§ 22. Mr. Nabarroasked the Minister of Transport whether he has now received all outstanding reports from his inspecting officers in regard to the causes of several fires which have occurred on railway passenger trains during the last two years; what are the principal recommendations made by the inspecting officers; what further inquiries the Minister now proposes to make; and whether he will make a statement.
§ 31. Mr. Rentonasked the Minister of Transport whether he has considered the report made by the inspector upon the train fire which occurred near. Huntingdon on 14th July, 1951; what recommendations he proposes to make to prevent a recurrence of such fires: and whether he will make a statement.
§ Mr. Lennox-BoydI have received Reports on these fires from the inspecting officers, who made a number of recommendations. These have been published and I am sending copies to the hon. Members. Many of the recommendations have been accepted and are being carried out by the Railway Executive; there have, however, been differences of view on certain matters—extra doors in sleeping cars and in open centre corridor coaches, and the training of railway staff in the elements of fire precautions and fire fighting.
My noble Friend the Secretary of State for the Co-ordination of Transport, Fuel and Power and I have had very full discussions with members of the British Transport Commission and with the Chairman of the Railway Executive, and I am glad to be able to inform the House that conclusions which are satisfactory to us in principle have been reached.
§ Mr. NabarroIn consideration of the fact that four major fire incidents on passenger trains have occurred in the last three years at Penmanshiel, Beattock, Huntingdon and Fordhouses, respectively, all arising from the use of inflammable varnishes used on the interior of railway coaches, can my right hon. Friend say how many of the 25,000 corridor coaches at present in use have had this inflammable varnish removed and how many are still in service with such inflammable varnish on their interior surfaces?
§ Mr. Lennox-BoydThe answer is that 23,800 out of the 24,900 corridor coaches on British Railways have been examined; about 15,000 were found to be in order and about 8,000 contained these inflammable surfaces. Of these, 6,800 have been dealt with and about 1,600 are receiving or awaiting attention.
§ Mr. RentonIs my right hon. Friend aware that in the Huntingdon train no communication cord could be found inside the second coach, in which the fire started? Can he say whether there was any disagreement between his officers and the Railway Executive on the need for ensuring that there is always a communication cord available, and, if there was no such agreement, how the matter has been reconciled by him?
§ Mr. Lennox-BoydThat is a matter to which attention is drawn in the report of this accident and one which my inspecting officers are now engaged in taking up with the Railway Executive.
§ Colonel Gomme-DuncanCan my right hon. Friend say who was actually responsible for the most dangerous procedure of putting inflammable varnishes on the interiors of trains?
§ Mr. Lennox-BoydIt is only comparatively recently that tests have revealed the possible danger of this material. I do not think that anyone can be blamed for its use in the past. The important thing is to see that it is not used in the future.