§ 93. Mr. Harrisonasked the Minister of Transport if he will make immediate inquiries into the congestion of mineral traffic on the railways in the Midlands, which has already forced the Welbeck and Blidworth pits and others to reduce output, taking into consideration the facts that the weather has been good for transport recently and there has been no immediate reduction in the number of wagons and engines available for this traffic.
§ Mr. BarnesThe records of wagons put into the collieries named by my hon. Friend over the past five weeks show that a fair supply was maintained, but that notwithstanding small quantities of coal were lost. There is some difficulty in keeping all collieries fully supplied with wagons owing to the general shortage of wagons and locomotives due to lack of renewal and maintenance during the war. I have instructed the railway companies that movement of coal must be given priority in wagon supply and they assure me that every endeavour is made to equalise the available supply of all pits.