§ Mr. ROYCEasked the Minister of Transport whether the Great Northern Railway Company is short of truck sheets and that growers and traders in South Lincolnshire and adjacent districts have been unable to load corn, potatoes, and other produce even when trucks were available by reason of the railway company's failure to provide sheets to cover them; whether he is aware that the Great Northern Railway Company are selling to the public repaired sheets which could be used for this traffic; and whether it is the policy of the railway companies generally to restrict traffic and reduce receipts to the lowest possible limits in order that the deficit on the working may be made to appear as large as possible and thereby justify greater increases in rates?
§ Mr. NEALI am aware that there is a shortage of sheets, but the railway companies are doing everything possible to make good the shortage. I am informed that the Great Northern Railway Company are selling only such sheets as are condemned as unsuitable for railway traffic. I am satisfied that the railway companies are not restricting traffic or reducing receipts as suggested by my hon. Friend. The question of rates is being investigated impartially by the Advisory Committee appointed under the Ministry of Transport Act.