LORD BROUGHAMsaid, the dreadful accident that had recently occurred on the Brighton line must be in the minds of their Lordships, and must lead to serious reflection as to the speed at which railway trains were driven on English lines. He was decidedly opposed to occasional legislation, because where men were legislating in order to meet particular cases they were apt to take a one-sided view, dictated by the circumstances of the particular case. But this was not a new question. His noble Friend the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs would remember that at the Social Science Congress held in Liverpool a few years ago, he (Lord Brougham) called attention to the expediency of limiting the speed at which railway trains should be allowed to travel, and he supported his view by reference to the great safety with which railway trains travelled on the Continent, where the speed scarcely ever exceeded twenty-five miles an hour, and recommended that the maximum speed in this country should not be allowed to very much exceed that rate. But mercantile men present at the Congress, totally objected to his plan, and were against any restraint on the speed of railways, and were in favour of perfect liberty on that subject. While he (Lord Brougham) was of opinion that twenty-five or at most thirty miles an hour was as fast as trains ought to go, those gentlemen thought that they ought to be allowed to go at a speed of fifty, sixty, or even seventy miles an hour. His own opinion, however, remained unaltered, and it had been strongly fortified by the lamentable accident that occurred on Friday last. He wished to ask his noble Friend the President of the Council, Whether the Government had it in contemplation to bring-in any measure for the purpose of fixing the maximum speed of railway trains?
§ EARL GRANVILLEreplied, that he was not aware that the Government had any intention of bringing in a measure such as that suggested by his noble and learned Friend. He had very great doubts whether it would be desirable to interfere by legislation in the matter; but if the Government were to bring in such a Bill, he thought that it would have very little chance of passing both Houses of Parliament. Nothing could be more natural than that the noble and learned Lord's 150 attention should be recalled to this subject by the dreadful accident on the Brighton line; but as to the limitation of speed to twenty-five or thirty miles an hour, he thought it would be found that danger in respect of the rate at which trains travelled arose more from efforts on the part of engine-drivers to make up for lost time, than from the general rate of speed at which the trains were intended to travel.
§ THE EARL OF HARDWICKEsaid, he was perfectly satisfied that any legislation in the direction referred to would be surrounded with great difficulty and inconvenience. It appeared to him that the great danger arose from the practice sometimes of detaining the starting of the trains beyond the time mentioned in the tables. He was quite confident that the only way of remedying the danger was by requiring the railway authorities to observe strictly the time-table in the departure and arrival of trains. If the railway officials were compelled to start the trains at the moment set down in the tables, whether there were passengers or not, he was of opinion there would be little danger of railway accidents; and he thought Government might very fairly call upon the managers of railways to insist upon the times, which they themselves arranged, being strictly adhered to.