§ MR. T. A. LEWISasked the Minister of Transport if he can give the number of privately-owned railway wagons in use at the present time; how many are owned by colliery proprietors, coal merchants, and consumers, respectively; and what is the relative proportion of railway-owned and privately-owned railway wagons?
Sir RHYS WILLIAMSAccording to Returns taken on 1st August, 1918, the total number of privately-owned wagons registered to run on railway companies' lines was 616,178. Of these, 544,644 were coal wagons, 368,988 being owned by colliery proprietors, 141,020 by coal merchants, and 34,636 by consumers. The number of wagons owned by private traders represents about 46 per cent. of the total.