§ Mr. PARKESasked the President of the Board of Trade whether he is aware that the service of trains from the North of England and the Midlands has been curtailed on a number of lines; that holders of traders' tickets are consequently in some cases unable to travel to London, do their business, and return the same day as they were able to do before the curtailment, and also in many cases have to leave home earlier or leave London earlier in consequence of such curtailment; whether, in view of the fact that there has been no corresponding reduction in the charges for the tickets and that the Government is now guaranteeing the companies' incomes, he will arrange that traders' tickets may be made available by any company's line which runs between, or connects, the centres between which the ticket has been taken, the availability not to include any stop-over privileges at intermediate stations?
§ Mr. PRETYMANAs was stated on the 25th February last in reply to a question by the hon. Member for South Leeds, instructions with regard to the inter-availability of traders' tickets have been issued by the railway companies where it has been found necessary to discontinue certain trains. I understand, however, that it is not considered practicable to make any general regulation on the subject.