§ Viscount EDNAMasked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Transport whether he will represent to the Great Northern Railway Company that it is now the time to put in hand a scheme for the electrification of their suburban lines, as a means not only of creating useful work for the unemployed in the northern Metropolitan area, but also of relieving the great discomfort and inconvenience under which the large number of suburban residents in northern London at present travel to and from the City?
§ Lieut.-Colonel ASHLEYAs stated in the reply which I gave on this subject on the 4th December to my hon. and gallant Friend the Member for the Finchley division (Colonel Newman), no scheme regarding the electrification of the suburban lines of the Great Northern Railway is at present before me. The question of the preparation and introduction of such a scheme is one for the consideration of the railway company, and I have brought the Noble Lord's suggestion to the company's notice.