§ LORD STUART OF WORTLEYMy Lords, I beg to ask His Majesty's Government whether the express passenger train leaving St. Pancras at 8.50 a.m. arrives at Carlisle at 4.18 p.m., exactly one minute after the Caledonian express leaves Carlisle for Stirling, Perth, and Aberdeen; whether this failure of connection is due to directions from the Railway Executive Committee; and whether the Board of Trade will do anything to make this valuable connection available to travellers from the important populous districts served by the Midland Railway.
§ LORD SOMERLEYTONMy Lords, replies from the Caledonian and Midland Railway Companies on the points raised have been received to-day, and I shall be glad to show copies of them to my noble friend. It will be seen that both companies say that they cannot, in existing circumstances, alter the timing of their respective trains so as to allow passengers by the 8.50 a.m. train from St. Pancras to make a connection with the Caledonian train leaving Carlisle for Stirling, Perth and Aberdeen at 4.17 p.m.
As regards the second paragraph of the question, it will be seen from the railway companies' replies that the withdrawal of this pre-war facility was due to conditions brought about by the war, and while these conditions made it necessary for the Railway Executive Committee to give general instructions for the curtailment of train services throughout the country and to settle the principles governing the allocation of through traffic, the details of timetables are arranged by the railway com 537 panies themselves. Unfortunately difficulties of the nature of those indicated in the letters still exist, and both the Board of Trade and the Railway Executive Committee must necessarily leave questions of the restoration or extension of facilities largely to the decision of the individual railway companies. I trust that the noble Lord, who I understand is a railway director, will assist in the removal of these difficulties.