§ Mr. ROBERT HARCOURTasked the President of the Board of Trade whether he is aware that, by the bye-laws of the Caledonian Railway Company, approved by the Board on 22nd November, 1905, it is provided that no person shall enter a railway station without lawful excuse; whether the company in practice makes a charge to non-travellers who wish for access to the platforms; whether in making such charge and permitting such access the company first satisfies itself that the individual has a lawful excuse, or whether it merely waives the condition in return for payment; and what are the powers which enable the company either to make the charge or to waive the point of lawful excuse?
Mr. BUXTONI understand that the railway company make a charge for the admission of persons other than travellers to certain of their stations. The legality of such a charge does not appear to depend on the bye-law which my hon. Friend quotes, and in a case heard in the Forfar Sheriff Court last year the Sheriff-Principal held that the regulation requiring the payment was within the company's powers.