§ 37. Mr. Stodartasked the Postmaster-General on how many occasions during September, October and November, respectively, letters posted in Central London before 6 p.m. were not included in the first delivery at North Berwick on the following morning.
§ Miss PikeThe main mails containing correspondence posted in Central London for first delivery in North Berwick failed to connect once in October and three times in November. The connections were maintained throughout September. As we do not keep records of the passage of unregistered letters through the post, I cannot say on how many occasions individual items due to connect with the first delivery failed to do so. But I assure my hon. Friend that we will do all we can to keep delays to a minimum.
§ Mr. StodartIn view of the fact that those of us who use the East Coast route find that the train service to Scotland runs reasonably well on time, will my hon. Friend say whether there is a very tight connection involved between the sorting of letters in Central London, and their catching the mail?
§ Miss PikeYes. The connection is rather tight, because the last collection from street boxes is at 5.30 p.m. and from the head post office at 6 o'clock, and the train goes from King's Cross at 8.20 p.m. There is certain building development work going on at King's Cross Station which will help us to get mails on to the trains faster.