§ 21. Mr. Brooksasked the Minister of Transport what is the latest estimate he has received of the cost of constructing the Mersey railway loop line in Liverpool and the burrowing junction at Hamilton Square Station, Birkenhead; and what estimate he has made of the increase in the peak-hour carrying capacity of the railway permitted by these projects.
§ Mr. CarmichaelBritish Railways' current estimates of the cost of these two improvements are £5.0 million and £680,000, respectively. They would enable the present peak hour carrying capacity to be increased from about 15,000 to 26,000 each way. A further increase to 35,000 could be achieved by lengthening platforms, at a cost of £750,000, to permit eight car trains to be used.
§ Mr. BrooksIs my hon. Friend aware that there will be great satisfaction that nine years after this scheme was first costed it appears not to have escalated at all in cost, which surely must be unprecedented during the 1960s? Is not this a very urgent step which would do much to relieve the congestion which otherwise would develop in the Mersey road tunnels?
§ Mr. CarmichaelIt is certainly a very urgent step. It is also a very expensive 14 one. It would be wrong to take an ad hoc decision on a scheme of such magnitude until the completion of the Merseyside Land Use and Transportation Study, the results of which can be expected in a few months and with which the scheme to which my hon. Friend has referred will be integrated. A decision will be taken in the light of all the factors.