asked the Minister of War Transport whether his attention has been called to the safety signal devices introduced on the Great Western Railway with beneficent results in the prevention of accidents; and whether a similar system will be made compulsory on all railways in Great Britain.

I assume the hon. Member refers to the automatic train control ap- paratus which the Great Western Railway have used for many years. The war held up the experiments which the L.M.S. and L.N.E.R. were making with another type of equipment for the same purpose. What is the best device to assist drivers under differing conditions is a complex question, and pending further consideration I should not feel justified in requiring the general adoption of a particular type of automatic train control equipment.

Is it not a fact that if a particular device for the safety of the travelling public is brought into operation by one railway company, it should be made immediately available for all the railway companies in the country?

Yes, but there is such a thing as a difference of opinion between the experts.

asked the Minister of War Transport how long he intends the Railway Control Agreement to continue; what modifications he proposes for the transitional period; and whether the existing rental will be increased so that all stockholders may receive some return from their capital.

Under the Railway Control Agreement, control is to be continued for a minimum period of one year after the cessation of hostilities. Before control comes to an end (that is, before all statutory rights and obligations as they exist at that time again apply to the controlled undertakings) time is to be given for the operation of any statutory machinery governing the level of charges. The Agreement, including the financial clauses, covers the whole period of control, both during the war and during the transitional period thereafter. I do not propose to make any modifications in it.

Will it not help their reconstruction if the companies can be told how they are going to stand in the near future?

That point can be met in a much more practical way than that suggested by the hon. Member.

asked the Minister of War Transport whether he will now state the policy of the Government with regard to the railways on the expiry of the Control Agreement six months after the termination of hostilities.

My hon. Friend is mistaken; the Railway Control Agreement provides that control will be continued for a minimum period of one year after the cessation of hostilities. I am not yet in a position to make a statement upon the situation which will arise when the present control terminates.

Can the right hon. Gentleman say whether the phrase "cessation of hostilities" refers to Germany or to Japan?

If it represents a minimum period of one year after the cessation of hostilities, I do not think it really matters much whether it is related to Germany or Japan, although that is a matter into which I shall look more closely.

asked the Minister of War Transport whether he will put the moneys accruing to the Exchequer from the operation of the Railway Control Agreement into a separate fund and earmark this for future railway development.

No, Sir. I see no reason to make any special arrangements such as is suggested.

asked the Minister of War Transport how much has been expended by his Department on railway works, extensions or improvements on each of the four main railway systems during the operations of the Railway Control Agreement; how much has been charged to the railway companies; and whether they will be charged with the balance.

The estimated cost of railway works of a capital nature on the four main line systems and joint lines, financed by my Department since the commencement of Government Control, is as follows:

asked the Minister of War Transport whether he will state the number of accidents, fatal and otherwise, separately, to railwaymen employed by all railway companies in Great Britain, together with their respective grades, for each year from 1938 to 1944 and for the first nine months of 1945.

The information sought will take some to collect, but I shall let my hon. Friend have it as soon as practicable.

Is it not possible on suitable occasions for instructions to be given in writing, and would not this lead to a reduction in the number of accidents?

I should like to ask my hon. and gallant Friend to put that question down.

asked the Minister of War Transport what functions are performed by him, as chairman, and by the deputy chairman of the Railway Executive Committee.

The Railway Executive Committee are my agents for the purpose of giving directions under the Railway Control Order and I exercise my powers of control through them. As chairman I reserve the right to preside at any of the meetings of the Committee, a course which enables me to maintain close personal touch with the members individually and corporately. The deputy chairman presides in my absence and is responsible for the day-to-day conduct of the Committee's affairs, consulting me as necessary.

Does the Minister maintain that his right to give such direction will be kept on indefinitely?

I would not like to use the word "indefinitely," but as to claiming that right, the answer is definitely "Yes."

asked the Minister of War Transport whether he is aware, that wounded Servicemen in hospital blue are being turned out of first-class seats by railway officials, even when no third-class seats are vacant; and whether he will give instructions for this practice to cease.

Apart from the instance to which the hon. Member has drawn my attention, I am not aware of any case in which a wounded Serviceman in hospital blue has been turned out of a first-class seat when no third-class seats are vacant. To obviate the possibility of any recurrence of this, instructions are being given to the railway staff on the subject.

I should like to thank my right hon. Friend.

:Is the Minister aware that at Euston the other night a group of American soldiers were put out of a first-class carriage so that officers could be put in, and that a number of civilians in the corridor then got into the carriage and refused to come out, and will he give a ruling that when a train is crowded whoever gets into a carriage first has the right to stay there?

I am not responsible for all these interesting incidents that happen on the railways.

asked the Minister of War Transport whether he will now reply to the recent request of the hon. Member for Stretford for a revival of cheap day travel facilities.

There are a number of difficult questions involved, such as the effect on passenger traffic, and I am considering the matter.

While the Minister may not be able to restore the whole of these facilities, will he consider whether the time has not come when cheap day tickets might be issued to recognised parties, such as football teams and organised outings from time to time?

I am afraid that at the present moment one must balance advantage against disadvantage in this matter.

Can the right hon. Gentleman give some indication to when these facilities may be provided?

No, Sir, not at the moment.