HC Deb 03 December 1975 vol 901 cc1668-70
9. Mr. Crawford

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment when he next plans to meet the Chairman of British Railways.

Dr. Gilbert

I meet the Chairman as and when the need arises. My next scheduled meeting with him is on 16th December.

Mr. Crawford

When will the Minister implement the strong recommendation from British Rail that a separate Scottish region of British Rail be established? When will he also announce the granting of £3.3 million to British Rail for the double-tracking of the Perth-Inverness railway line? Is the Minister aware that it is less than half a day's revenue from Scottish oil? Is he further aware that the results of last night's regional council by-elections in Bo'ness and Bishopbriggs indicate that the people of Scotland will not stand for any further cuts in public expenditure?

Dr. Gilbert

I am sure that the hon. Gentleman's calculations of the revenue from British oil are thoroughly up to date, but, in relation to the Perth-Inverness line, we have received an appraisal from the Board of various ways of increasing capacity on that line. The Board's traffic scheme would not yield a satisfactory rate of return, and we are considering whether any special arrangement ought to be made to enable the scheme to go ahead.

Mr. Teddy Taylor

Will the Minister state the annual loss in respect of British Rail's Scottish services and give an assurance, bearing in mind the very heavy burden of rates in the west of Scotland, that it is no part of the Government's plan to transfer the loss on the electric trains in the west of Scotland on to the shoulders of the ratepayers in Strathclyde?

Dr. Gilbert

I cannot without notice give the hon. Gentleman the detailed statistics for which he asks, but I shall certainly write to him giving the answer, if I can.

Mr. Les Huckfield

Is not my hon. Friend's concern with all this discussion about the future level of services on British Rail taking place in isolation from the discussion about the level of bus services and the level of the motorway programme, and so on? Does he not agree that the Labour Party is pledged to a policy of co-ordination and integration of transport, and not to a policy under which each transport mode is discussed in isolation? When are we to have a co-ordinated and integrated transport policy?

Dr. Gilbert

I am grateful to my hon. Friend for his remarks. I assure him that these matters are not discussed in isolation. He is well aware of the need for a great deal of fundamental research before a review can be brought forward, and the group in which he played a distinguished part has in some ways laid the foundation stone for the work now being done by the Government on this matter. It is difficult to give a precise date when the results of the review will be published, but I assure my hon. Friend that we are just as impatient as he is to get it published.

Mr. Geoffrey Finsberg

As the Minister is meeting the Chairman of British Rail 10 days before Boxing Day, will he ask the Chairman to reconsider the retrograde decision to cut all rail services on Boxing Day, even if it means charging a premium rate for those who really want to travel on that day?

Dr. Gilbert

May I correct the hon. Gentleman on one minor inexactitude? All services are not being cut on that day. Services are being maintained in Scotland, where Boxing Day is not a public holiday.