§ 3. Mr. Cockeramasked the Secretary of State for the Environment what assessment he makes, when considering applications from British Rail for additional public finance, of the length of motorway which could be built for equivalent sums.
§ Mr. PeytonNotional comparisons of this kind are not a practical way of getting the right balance between road and rail investment. Decisions are based on assessments of the benefits to be achieved by specific projects which are seldom straightforward alternatives.
§ Mr. CockeramI thank my hon. Friend for that reply. Would he agree that it is wrong to state, as was recently claimed by British Rail in an advertisement, that motorways cost 92 times as much to build as do comparable railways?
§ Mr. PeytonThe House would probably agree that pure truth is not always enshrined in every advertisement. Perhaps in this case there was something in those advertisements that did not commend itself to my hon. Friend. I am sorry that this should be so, but I do not think that one should interfere.