§ Major ATTLEEasked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Transport if the rails were removed from the Basingstoke and Alton Railway under the Defence of the Realm Act; if any compensation was, or is going to be, paid to the owners; if permission has been, or is going to be, granted to the owners to abandon the line; and if the Ministry has received any protests against the proposed abandonment?
§ Colonel ASHLEYAs regards the first part of this question, it is the case that the rails and other permanent way materials were removed from this railway during the War for use abroad, and that a payment was made to the London and South-Western Railway Company by the Ministry of Munitions to cover the value of the materials and the cost of lifting and handling them. As regards the latter part, I have received protests against the discontinuance of this railway. I have, however, no power to sanction or to disallow its abandonment.