§ 83. Mr. Edward Daviesasked the Minister of Transport what progress is being made in increasing the haulage capacity of the railways, particularly the movement of coal, by speeding up locomotive repairs, including the 260 austerity engines in this country, and obtaining new locomotives and new and bigger wagons in 1947.
§ Mr. BarnesIn addition to the 250 austerity locomotives in service at the end of January, 93 are undergoing repairs in railway shops and about 115 have been brought back from the Continent in running order or are being repaired in Belgium before being shipped. All these engines should be in service by the coming summer. Arrangements are also in view which will I hope materially increase our capacity for repairs to engines and wagons in the near future. Plans already made provide for the building this year of 275 locomotives and 18,000 wagons in railway shops and 180 locomotives and some 30,000 wagons in private shops or Royal12W Ordnance Factories. The wagons are mostly of 16 tons capacity.
The speed at which these arrangements can be carried out will be dependent on a sufficiency of materials and labour, matters which are engaging my constant attention.
§ Mr. C. Smithasked the Minister of Transport how many new goods wagons were made available to British railways during 1946; how many were manufactured in Royal ordnance factories; how many were provided during January, 1947; and whether he will state figures which afford a comparison with the annual prewar provision of new goods wagons.
§ Mr. BarnesThe number of new goods wagons built for running on the British railways during 1946 was 27,999; of this number, 1,408 were manufactured in Royal Ordnance Factories. During January, 1947, a total of 2,954 wagons were built. Annual prewar production was about 29,000.