§ Sir H. NIELDasked the President of the Board of Trade whether any instructions have been issued by the Railway Executive Committee to the companies to vary the conditions under which season tickets are held; when were any such instructions issued; what was the reason for departing from the long-established practice of permitting a holder to give his name and address if unable from inadvertence to produce his ticket when called upon; upon what principle do the Railway Executive Committee insist upon a second 1423W payment of the fare and refuse to refund it on the subsequent production of the season ticket; and why should the official standard, when subject to Government control, be less equitable than that in force during the private management by the companies?
Sir A. STANLEYThe principal objects of the instructions referred to, which were issued in December, 1916, were explained in a reply given on the subject to the hon. Member for Peterborough on the 5th December last, of which I am sending the hon. and learned Gentleman a copy.