Mr. De la Bèreasked the Minister of Transport whether the Government will take further steps to ensure that the railway companies who have trucks standing empty in the sidings for many weeks shall take further steps to reorganise their methods with a view to ensuring a more speedy turn-round of wagons in connection with coal supplies throughout the country?
§ Captain WallaceThe railway companies are fully alive to the need for securing a speedy turn-round of wagons, but accumulations of empties are necessary to enable them promptly to meet the fluctuating demands of coal and other traffic. As a result of the introduction of the demurrage regulations the railways are now experiencing no difficulty in collecting sufficient empty wagons to meet the requirements of the collieries.